Hypnogoria: THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR

Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! Today we throw open Door 18 and have a root about in the cupboard marked Q. And I bet you are expecting the cupboard to be bare!

Well, there are a couple of notable Christmas Qs and so we will do both. Firstly in the UK, there was the Queen’s Speech. More properly known as the Royal Christmas Message, this broadcast from Her Majesty was more commonly known as the Queen on Christmas Day, and like it or not, was traditionally part of the festivities for many families. For in favourable, everyone had at least one relative round who was an ardent Royalist and hence at three o’clock in the afternoon there was a little lull, while the Queen presented her message to the nation.

And while for many of us when growing up this was The Time I Got Told Off On Christmas Day For Playing With the Noisy Toys I had Literally Just Got Thank You Very Much, over the years, now we are grown up, we look back fondly on the Queen’s Christmas message, those rare moments when the whole family sat quietly for a bit. And with Her Majesty’s passing earlier this year, many of us can’t help feeling that Christmas Day just won’t be the same without her.

However there is also another Q associated with Christmas, and one that brings us back to the subject of forgotten festive fare. For Q can also stand for quince! The quince is golden yellow fruit and resembles a cross between an apple and a pear. They are highly aromatic and have a mellow citrus taste. However they have somewhat fallen out of favour in the modern age as quinces cannot be eaten raw. The flesh must first be softened by simmering or roasting, reduced to what used to be called a quidany. And the prepared flesh can then be used in a variety of dishes or made into marmalades or jams.

And as the quince comes into season between October and December, in times past it was favourite for Christmas fare, with quince pies and tarts being particular favourites. Also a quince jam known as membrillo was a popular accompaniment for cheeses. If you fancy reviving the quince as part of your own festive fare, here is a recipe for quince marmalade from The Compleat Housewife published 1736.

‘Pare and core a pound of quince, and strain out the juice; to every pound of quince take ten spoonful's of that juice, and three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar; put all into your preserving-pan, cover it close, and let it stew over a gentle fire two hours; when ’tis of an orange-red, uncover and boil it up as fast as you can: when of a good colour, break it as you like it, give it a boil, and pot it up.’

And so then you will have an aromatic, citrus-y marmalade that smells and tastes of Christmas to accompany other dishes or to scoop into pastries to make quince tarts.