I had an old 13″ black and white TV in my bedroom as a kid. Four channels. ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS. There were two dials on the set, one for the channel and one for the…I have no idea…But every so often I could adjust both, toggle the antennae a bit and get a mysterious fifth channel which had old movies and shows. I would stay up late watching these old shows, many times old Star Trek reruns from the 60s. I sort of had the same schedule growing up that I do now. Stay up late, get up early. I’ll probably die in my sleep soon…Joking…I’ve always burned it at both ends. I think I’m one of those people that needs less sleep, that, or I just force myself

Anyway, my Uncle David was a real sci-fi nut and would take me to all the newest movies that came out. He told my mom we were seeing something lame and then we would go see Total Recall or Aliens, real crazy shit for a super young kid to see. It’s quite possible seeing those movies warped my brain, but during that time I also saw all the Star Trek movies, including Star Trek V, The Final Frontier.

The plot revolved around the crew finding the location of the center of the universe where they thought God lived. A little out there. It was the first time we got to meet Spock’s brother, Sybock, in the movies, although I’m pretty sure he was in the TV series once or twice. If you’re aware of the movie franchise at all, you’d know that the good Trek movies are even numbered and the shit ones are odd. The Final Frontier is no exception. They do end up finding a god, but it’s a malicious, demonic one and they end up blowing the fucker up with photon torpedos.

So, while cooking quince the other night I thought about the original poster for Star Trek V, you’ll understand why in a moment.

Quince is a mysterious fruit, man. You’ve got to really seduce the hell out of it with low heat, sugar, and acid in order to coax it to it’s full potential which is this beautiful red color with it’s own unique fall flavor. It takes a long time. Hours. But the result is worth it because nothing else looks or tastes like it.

So, right here we start with some quince and a syrup that is 3:2 water to sugar. I put a little translucent blanket over it to keep it nice and warm.

After about an hour and a half we start to see some color form. Now, right here is where most will stop. Don’t do this, keep going. Add water if you’re feeling squirrelly.

This is near the end here. Yeah, terrible photo.

When it’s finished, you have this truly magical shit. Go a little further and you’ll be able to make Spanish membrillo paste due to the quince’s insane amount of pectin. I posted something a couple weeks ago saying quince wasn’t worth all the time and effort but I’m starting to think it is because it’s truly unique. What other fruit requires such attention to attain an edible state? And what other fruit changes into something so different after being cooked for three hours?