About this dried quince
Quince grown in Armenia, sliced and dried in the sun without any added sugar. Sulphur dioxide (E220) is used as a preservative during drying, helping the fruit hold its deep gold colour. Contains sulphites.
Raw quince is too firm and astringent to eat as it comes — drying is what makes it possible at all, concentrating the sugars into something between honey and pear, with a faint tartness still running underneath. The texture is dense and chewy, closer to a fruit leather than a crisp chip.
Eat it on its own as a snack, stir it into porridge or a compote, or steep it for a naturally sweet tea — a common use for quince across Armenian kitchens.
Quince trees are hardy and long-lived, often planted alongside apple and pear on the same smallholdings across Armenia's orchards. The fruit is picked once fully ripe and sliced by hand before drying, which is part of why slice thickness varies slightly from batch to batch.
