Page "Quince" Paragraph 7

Cultivation of quince may have preceded apple culture, and many references translated to " apple ", such as the fruit in Song of Solomon, may have been a quince.

Among the ancient Greeks, the quince was a ritual offering at weddings, for it had come from the Levant with Aphrodite and remained sacred to her.

Plutarch reported that a Greek bride would nibble a quince to perfume her kiss before entering the bridal chamber, " in order that the first greeting may not be disagreeable nor unpleasant " ( Roman Questions 3. 65 ).

It was a quince that Paris awarded Aphrodite.

It was for a golden quince that Atalanta paused in her race.

The Romans also used quinces ; the Roman cookbook of Apicius gives recipes for stewing quince with honey, and even combining them, unexpectedly, with leeks.

Pliny the Elder mentioned the one variety, Mulvian quince, that could be eaten raw.

Columella mentioned three, one of which, the " golden apple " that may have been the paradisal fruit in the Garden of the Hesperides, has donated its name in Italian to the tomato, pomodoro.