Spiced quince sauce

The fruitiest sauce

We make bread and cranberry sauces for our turkey without even thinking about it, but there are other sauces if you can dare to break the tradition. Celery makes a good sauce, either simmered in milk until soft and blended, or used in an Italian version, diced and cooked with diced lemon flesh, olive oil and sugar over a bain-marie until tender. Apple sauce is perfect with goose, especially if you keep it a bit tart to cut the fat of the goose. One of my favourites, though, is Cumberland sauce, which is basically a redcurrant jelly simmered with orange zest and juice, lemon juice and port. Some versions have French mustard, ginger and wine vinegar added for a sweet and savoury appeal.

You can choose whatever sauce takes your fancy, make it in advance and heat it up on the day to save last-minute rushing around.

Serves 6-8

This is a perfect sauce to serve with duck, goose, game and even turkey.

4 quince
A small piece of cinnamon stick
6 cloves
6 juniper berries
200g granulated sugar
1 lemon, halved

Peel the quince and place in a large saucepan with the rest of the ingredients. Cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the quince is soft enough to mash. Drain the quince in a colander over a pan, reserving the juice for a jelly and leave to cool enough to handle. Cut the quince in half and remove the core, then blend the flesh in a food processor to a coarse purée or leave it with a coarse texture. Depending how spiced you want the quince, you can blend in some of the spices. To serve, reheat with a little of the cooking liquor or serve at room temperature.