A quince paste cooked long with sugar until firm, fragrant, and translucent. Cut into diamonds that keep for a very long time: the ultimate preserve-confection of the era.

Why this dish? A man of travels between Picardy, Paris, Geneva, and northern courts, Mornay kept supplies in his chest for the road. Cotignac, a dense sweet quince paste, kept for months and was slipped both at the end of a meal and into a rider's saddlebags.

Quand je prends la route pour Genève ou les pays du Nord, Monsieur, je n'oublie jamais d'emporter du cotignac dans mon coffre. Je fais cuire la chair des coings avec autant de sucre, longuement, en tournant sans relâche, jusqu'à ce que la pâte tienne à la cuillère et se voie au travers. On la met en boîtes, et elle se garde tout l'hiver sans se gâter. Un morceau au sortir de table flatte la bouche ; un autre en chemin soutient le voyageur et lui réjouit l'estomac.

How it was made : Cotignac, a specialty particularly of Orléans, was offered to distinguished guests and carried on journeys because it kept for months. Sugar, acting as a preservative, turned an autumn fruit into a winter store. It is the direct ancestor of modern fruit pastes.

The contemporary twist : Cut into small cubes and served with aged sheep's cheese, cotignac becomes the *membrillo* of contemporary cheese boards.

Charles de Mornay · Charactorium