Cotignac

Cotignac. Roudou / flickr/ 2014 / CC BY-SA 2.0

Cotignac is a thick, firm, sweet preserve made from quinces, water and sugar.

It is strained to make it clear, or at least translucent. It ends up being a very thick, very hard jelly.

Charles Monselet (1825 – 1888), in his contribution to an 1859 book called “La Cuisinière poétique”, said of cotignac: “Ce n’est ni de la pâte, ni de la gelée — it’s neither a paste nor a jelly.”

It is good with cheese.

Cotignac d’Orléans

Cotignac d’Orléans is a jelled fruit candy sold in small round fir boxes.

The knowledge of making Cotignac d’Orleans was reputedly brought to Orléans by someone, perhaps an apothecary, from the village of Cotignac in the south of France.

A legend holds that Joan of Arc was given a box when she liberated Orleans in 1429, so her picture is often on the boxes.

Cooking Tips

⅔ weight of very ripe quinces
⅓ weight of sugar
water

Peel and quarter quinces, removing seeds. Bring the quinces to boil in some water until soft. Put them in muslin, press to extract the juice. Boil the juice with the sugar till the mixture reaches the jelly stage (108 to 114 C). As it starts to thicken, pour it into wood boxes. (Recipe from Charles Chavanette of Chocolaterie Royale (founded 1920, closed February 2009) in Orléans)

Some recipes have you put the seeds in muslin and boil them in the juice.

Some cooks suggest that the best quality results are obtained with a mixture of small, young quince (for their pectin), and large, mature ones for their aroma.

History Notes

During the late middle ages, cotignac was called “coudougnat“.

Early recipes for it allowed for both clear and opaque, pulpy versions.

Up until the 1500s, recipes for it called for spices such as black pepper and ginger. During the first part of her life in France (1548 – 1561), Mary, Queen of Scots enjoyed making cotignac infused with powdered violets. ^[1]Reid, Steven. The Life and Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots. University of Glasgow. Micro course. Module 1.13. Accessed December 2022 at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-life-and-afterlife-of-mary-queen-of-scots

The spices began to disappear in French versions around then.

Before refined sugar became available, honey was used instead. When sugar first started to become available, cooks no doubt found it made clearer versions of cotignac than honey. Aside from their greater clearness, sugar-based versions may also have been made more desirable simply owing to the greater expense and therefore exclusivity of sugar.

Some past versions may have included sweet wine. ^[2]”Coings… Cuits avec le vin doux, ils constituent le cotignac…” — Foy, François. Manuel d’hygiène, ou Histoire des moyens propres à conserver la santé et à perfectionner le physique et le moral de l’homme, Paris, France: G. Baillière, 1845. P. 276. Accessed December 2022 at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k28758j/f288.image.r=cotignac

Literature & Lore

“Cotignac of Quinces — TO MAKE QUINCE MARMALAD RED OR WHITE: Boyle your quinces till they bee very soft in water, then take them up, & when they are through cold, pare them & take the softest of them, & way to every pound of it a pound of sugar, boyle it till it come to candy, then put in the pap of your quinces, and stir it well togither, then put it in boxes, & so dry it; if you will have it red, put in a pint of water to a pound of sugar, boil it & scum it, then put in your quinces, in pretie big pieces, cover it close & let it boil, till it be red, then stir it togither, & boil it till it be thick inough, then put it in boxes, & so keep it.” — Spurling, Hilary, Editor. Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book. New York: Viking Penguin Press. 1986. [Ed: Elinor Fettiplace lived from 1570 – 1647.]

In 1905, Joseph Favre gave this advice in his Dictionnaire universel de cuisine pratique:

“COTIGNAC, s. p. (Quince jelly from). — Term for a double and firm jelly which originated in Cotignac, department of Var, arrondissement of Brignole. Today, Orléans challenges its fame and successes on the manufacture of cotignacs.

Cotignac. Recipe 1186. Take very ripe quinces of good quality, remove the down with a cloth, cut them into four or six to extract the seeds. Peel them and place them in a basin and put enough water for them to bathe; cook them and, when they are cooked, drain them on a sieve to collect the juice in a terrine. In the collected juice, put back other quinces prepared in the same way; cook to a gelatinous double juice; drain on a sieve without pressing them and collect the juice.

Weigh the juice obtained and add an equal weight of sugar which is boiled in the basin; cook until, by dipping a spoon in the syrup, then in the water, it has a certain consistency similar to blown sugar; the cotignac is then perfect; it must be clear and limpid. It is poured, after having left it to steam for a moment, in small porcelain or glass molds made for this purpose and which give the juice thus poured the form of small transparent loaves. Cotignacs can also be poured into long square molds and cut into bars; but the method of pouring into small starry molds to keep them in small boxes prepared for this purpose is preferable, because they are more attractive.

Cotignac, which is one of the best softeners for colds, is also taken to combat stomach upsets.”

“COTIGNAC, s. p. (Gelée de coing de). — Se dit d’une gelée double et ferme qui a pris son origine à Cotignac, département du Var, arrondissement de Brignole. Aujourd’hui, Orléans lui dispute la renommée et l’emporte sur la fabrication des cotignacs.

Cotignac. Formule 1186. Prendre des coings bien mûrs et de belle qualité, leur enlever le duvet à l’aide d’un linge, les couper en quatre ou en six pour en extraire les pépins. Les peler et les déposer dans une bassine et mettre assez d’eau pour qu’ils baignent; les faire cuire et, lorsqu’ils sont cuits, les égoutter sur un tamis pour en recevoir le jus dans une terrine. Dans le jus recueilli, remettre d’autres coings préparés de la même manière; faire cuire de façon à obtenir un double suc gélatineux; égoutter sur un tamis sans les presser et recueillir le jus.

Peser le jus obtenu et ajouter un poids égal de sucre que l’on fait mettre en ébullition dans la bassine; faire cuire jusqu’à ce que, en trempant une cuillère dans le sirop, puis dans l’eau, il présente une certaine consistance semblable au sucre au soufflé; le cotignac est alors à point; il doit être clair et limpide. On le coule, après l’a- voir laissé étuver un instant, dans des petits moules de porcelaine ou de verre faits à cet effet et qui donnent au jus ainsi coulé la forme de petits pains transparents. On peut également couler les cotignacs dans des moules carrés longs et les tailler par tablettes; mais, la manière de couler dans les petits moules étoilés pour les conserver dans de petites boîtes préparées à cet usage est préférable, parce qu’ils présentent plus d’attraits.

Le cotignac, qui est un des meilleurs adoucissants pour le rhume, se prend aussi pour combattre les dérangements du ventre.” — Favre, Joseph. Dictionnaire universel de cuisine pratique : encyclopédie illustrée d’hygiène alimentaire : modification de l’homme par l’alimentation, t. 2, Paris, France: L’auteur, 1905. P. 629. Accessed December 2022 at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57317645/f192.item.r=cotignac

The village of Cotignac in the south of France began holding an annual quince festival in October around 2002, called la “Fête du Coing“.

Language notes

Some etymologists speculate that “cotignac” evolved from earlier romance words for quince such as “coudougnac” or “coudoignac”. Other food writers see no reason to look for origins of the term other than in an early association with the village of Cotignac in Provence, France.