Cut quinces into chunks of 2cm or so, put into a kilner with one full stick of cinnamon. Pour in a bottle of very good cognac. No sugar. Leave on windowsill for about a year. Obvs it looks gorgeous so that’s no hardship. Give it a gentle agitation occasionally. To my mind you don’t want too much cinnamon stick disruption.
Strain and put back in the cognac bottle. Or into smaller gift bottle, though tbf mine has never made it into the smaller bottles.
It’s delicious and subtle and worth the cognac. Come to think of it I need to do this myself again.
Oh god now there’s a question……as good as you want I reckon…I had a bottle we bought from 2 from Cognac which was about £50 quid from memory.
That was a lot for me to spend really but I remember it being incredibly smooth and the quince despite the knock out perfume was subtle, plus no sugar. I remember thinking I was happy I hadn’t bunged a real cheapie in there. I guess the trick would be to find a cheapish one that you love and use that. Or if you can a bottle of very expensive that you love.
Anyway I’m way over the vulgarity line, not for the first time, all I’m saying is it won’t mask poor alcohol or be a waste of special stuff.
Yes they are rock hard. I take a cleaver to them sometimes. Just wipe off any fluff etc and cut up, skin, pips the lot. Putting it together is very quick…
I have made vin de noix on several occasions and it’s better left for at least a year but after several years it’s superb. Better than the shop bought versions but it doesn’t blow your socks off as I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere in this thread. Although I’ve never tested it I’d say it’s about 14/15% proof.
The knock your socks off variety would surely be a walnut flavoured liqueur.
My one is eau de noix rather than vin de noix, the ingredients are eau de vie, walnuts and sugar then later on after filtering it you add some water to bring the alcohol level down a bit. You have to leave it at least a year.
I’ve found that something which “bites my tonsils” is actually the best to use when making my special drinks/whatevers, soaking prunes/dried fruits… adding to almost anything which softens the horrific “bite” and makes it a delicious nuzzle…
I see Southern Comfort mentioned at the beginning of thethread. We had visitors from UK one Christmas who brought me a bottle of this revolting American Alcopop. I had to be sociable and drink some with him but managed to put just a drop in a glass and dilute it with water. It went well in my wife’s baking though.
Our next door neighbour just up the hill has a tree that produces fragrant miniature apricots, but last autumn they did not ripen as a signle crop, and we were too busy to embark on negotiations and collection. maybe autumn 2023 when we have the Morvan house sorted and a little more time.
I have a marvelous apple tree in my garden - Reine des Reinettes. My first fruit tree.
It can be used as a dessert apple but also has many culinary uses. It keeps its shape when cooked and brings an authentic old-fashioned flavour. The sweet-sharp juice is also useful for making fresh apple juice and in cider-making.
It is certainly a delicious apple, sweet and sour with a kind of spicy taste. I bought the house just as the tree was fully loaded but didn’t get in until most were fallers. Judging by the [empty] bottle racks in the cave, I think cider and other apple drinks were produced in quantity. I shall give it a go.
On a trip in the Indian Himalayas, I stayed in a village at 2500m alt, on the north side of the valley of the river Sutlej. The south-facing slopes were perfect for all sorts of fruit - apples, almonds, nuts … I was given two bottles of the local moonshine - #1 Quality and #2 Quality. I don’t know what the base fruit - if any - might have been.
The ‘quality’ rating was arbitrary - both were lethal. There was no taste of fruit - just ferocious alcohol/chemical. I was told this stuff was very popular at festivals and celebrations. It brought to mind the sort of report you see of “76 people in an Indian village have died from drinking alcohol made from shoe polish”. I found this stuff impossible to drink. “I’ll save it for later, back in England” was my get-out.
Ahhh! This is dual-purpose spirit! It lights stoves and it sets fire to the internals of people!
In fact, at this village, so high in the mountains, fuel was exclusively cedar wood. The smell was wonderful. My feather duvet climbing jacket became impregnated with the smoke and the smell. Back in UK I made it perfectly clear to my mother that I did not want this jacket washed but what did I see drying on the line in her garden? The jacket. I was
