How to make spice-rubbed lamb steaks with poached and roasted quince

For a beautifully different take on the fruit, Julia Platt Leonard combines aromatic quince with warming north African spices

(All photos Julia Platt Leonard)

At first glance, a quince looks like a slightly knobbly, fuzz-covered pear. Yes, they’re related (pears, apples and quinces are members of the rosaceae family), but most quince varieties are too hard and tart to eat raw.

But slice them and poach them and they’re almost perfumed.

When cooked, they turn from creamy white to anything from a soft, golden pink to a dramatic, deep red.