Anne and I are hosting Thanksgiving for some family and friends this year, and today I went rummaging around for punch ideas. My favorite festive tipple was, of course, the one tantalizingly out of reach: In his great 2007 column on the dearth of Thanksgiving cocktails, in which he mines history for recipe cues, Eric Felten alludes to a candidate he'd commissioned from Greg Lindgren of the San Francisco bar Rye:

He proposed poaching quince in honey, water and mulling spices, and then using the warm fruity broth to flavor a glass of brandy. Very nice indeed -- if you succeed in finding fresh quince.

Sadly, Felten never printed the recipe from Lindgren, a well regarded bar owner, drink crafter and cocktail contest ringleader. Nor could I find it anywhere online.

One whois search later, I fired off an email to Lindgren asking if he might share the recipe he'd sent to Felten. I didn't expect he'd still have the thing handy, three years on, but in less than an hour he sent back full instructions, complete with pictures.

Even better, he's given me permission to reprint the recipe here.

A bit of backstory: The drink is dubbed a "Metheglin" in reference to a spiced drink of fermented honey popular in England in the early 17th Century, when the Pilgrims headed out to start Plymouth Colony (and then promptly ordered two hogsheads of Metheglin from back home). Felten asked Lindgren and other bartenders for a drink inspired by the brew.

Although Felten worried his readers wouldn't be able to source quince, I discovered a a nice trove at the first place I chcked, Monterey Market in Berkeley. They're on your immediate left past the front door, inexplicably lodged between the lemons and grapefruit (related to apples and pears, quince is not citrus). Pic below. Admittedly, things won't be this easy for all shoppers.

Without further ado:

Quince Metheglin

by Greg Lindgren

Ingredients

• 8 quinces (skins peeled)
• 16 oz wild honey
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 whole nutmeg seed (crushed or chopped, not grated)
• 1 tsp chamomile
• 4 cinnamon Sticks
• 4 qt water
• 750 ml brandy (Germain-Robin Craft Method)

In a 4" deep baking pan (something sturdy):

Place peeled quinces in pan and drizzle the honey over all of the quince fruit.

Fill pan with water until the quinces are just submerged.

Use a mesh tea ball, or tea bag to contain crushed nutmeg, chamomile, and cloves. Drop this into the water along with 4 cinnamon sticks.

Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and put the pan in a preheated oven set at 425 degrees.

Let the quinces poach until they are soft all the way through. The poaching liquid will turn a sunset pink color from the quince flesh. Remove pan and let cool until it can be handled safely. Using tongs, remove all quince fruit, cinnamon sticks, and tea ball. Skim the poaching liquid if necessary. Reduce liquid on stove top. If neccessary add honey to sweeten. Combine quince poaching liquid with brandy to taste and keep warm on the stove top, or in a punch bowl that can hold warm liquid. 

You can discard the poached quinces, or use them to make a quince paste.

What I like about this beverage besides the great flavor of quince, honey, brandy and spice is the vibrant color. My photos here don't do it justice. (They appear amber/rust color).

In natural light the Quince Metheglin is slightly pinkish. 

This was very easy to make, the hardest part was being patient long enough to let the quince fully poach. Readers would have different sizes of pans, so my instructions were to cook by color and tenderness rather than time and exact measure. I checked my quinces at one hour in the oven and they were still a little white in the center while the liquid was just turning from clear to gold. An hour and a half later the quinces and the poaching liquid were the right color, and all the flavor was there.

I wrote to mix with brandy to taste. The base is quite sweet at 1 part brandy to 4 parts base ratio. I liked mine 1 part brandy to 2 parts base. Water could also be added to make it less sweet if necessary without adding too much spirit for some palates.

[Recipe text and photos (top) by Greg Lindgren and reprinted with permission. Lindgren photo via Rebecca Chapa's Slow Food Nation album. Consider a visit to Lindgren's bars Rye (a delightful mixologist hub), Rosewood and 15 Romolo.]