Cydonia oblonga: latin name for quince. A forgotten fruit and unjustly considered to be an Old-Dutch fruit. The quince is native to the Mediterranean and was brought to our region already by the Romans. After being out of the picture for a while the quince has been returned to our country by the so called newcomers; the Turks and Moroccans. At the Turkish grocery store you will now find the quince again. So ironically the object which we consider to be part of our own culture and which we want to educate the foreigners on turns out to be imported itself and is now being brought back to our country again by this specific group. The same goes for many other parts of our culture which we see as our own, they are to a large extend imported.

Apart from the usage of quinces as food, some people use the fruit as an air freshener. Put them on a bowl so they can fill the room with their lovely scent or you can even put them in your wardrobe. Instead of starting to rot they will dry out gradually.

Besides the factual interpretation of the quince the fruit can be read in a more symbolic way. In classical paintings the quince was dedicated to Venus and also a symbol for fertility and marriage. In the hands of the Christ Child the quince has the same meaning as the apple; it refers to his future calling as the Saviour. The apple / quince as the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the forbidden fruit.

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