North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lon Rombough <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

I don't  have that variety, but I do have a collection of others that are supposed to be good to eat fresh.  If the ones you picked still had any green, they weren't fully ripe.  They should be solid golden-yellow to be fully ripe.  That has been standard on every quince I've tried.  Most people pick them too green.  They must be essentially dead ripe to be at their best.  Smyrna has been the most consistent of my quinces, at least in part because it ripens early enough to get thoroughly ripe so it can be as tender as possible.   After that, leave it in the refrigerator for three weeks or so and it's edible raw.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
On Dec 13, 2004, at 7:43 AM, Mark Lee wrote:

I picked some Aromatnaya quince for the first time this year (on a farm,
not my own trees).  The quince had a mostly yellow color with patches of
golden yellow and a little light green.  We were told that they were
ripe.  After sitting at room temp for 2 weeks, I cut them up for
preserves.  They were very tough.  Quite a workout getting them peeled
and cut-up.  I can't imagine trying to eat a whole one of these fresh.
I know my jaw would get worn out.  They had the dense texture of raw
winter squash.  After canning and sitting on the shelf for a couple
months, the quince preserves are soft and fragrant... a big improvement
over the fresh fruit.  The juice left in the jars after removing the
preserves is an outstanding addition to smoothies.

Maybe the fresh-eating quality of Aromatnaya improves the longer the
fruit stays on the tree.  Any comments from those more experienced?