cotognata (quince cheese)

Quince cheese is prepared with quince fruits. The fruit is peeled and cored, and cooked with a teaspoon of water and from 500 to 1000 g sugar per kg of quince pulp, preferably in a pressure cooker, but it can also be left for longer (40 minutes–1 hour) in a regular pot, in this case with a little more water (which will then evaporate). It turns a light brick colour in the pressure cooker and on a regular pot, after a long cooking time, dark brick colour. After leaving it to set for a few days on earthenware/clay bowls (preferable), topped with parchment paper rounds, it becomes a relatively firm quince paste/cheese, dense enough to hold its shape. The taste is sweet but slightly astringent (depending on the amount of sugar used), and it is similar in consistency, flavor and use to guava cheese or guava paste.
Quince jelly is made with the skins and core, including pips, that were discarded when preparing quince cheese. They are cooked until halved in volume and the water is then sieved. For every 1 liter of water, 500 g sugar is added and the concoction is again boiled, until thread point is achieved.
Quince cheese is sold in squares or blocks, then cut into thin slices and spread over toasted bread or sandwiches, plain or with cheese, often served for breakfast or as a snack, with manchego, mató, Picón cheese (Spain), Serra da Estrela cheese or Queijo de Azeitão. It is also often used to stuff pastries.

In Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Ecuador, the membrillo (quince) is cooked into a reddish gelatin-like block or firm reddish paste known as dulce de membrillo. Similar confections are made in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay by replacing quince with other ingredients, such as guavas in Brazil and Colombia, squashes, apricots, and figs in Uruguay, and sweet potatoes in Argentina and Uruguay.
The pastafrola, a sweet tart common in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, is usually filled with quince paste. In Argentina and Uruguay, a slice of dulce de membrillo (quince cheese) eaten with a slice of soft cheese is considered the national dessert. In Argentina it is referred to as vigilante. In Uruguay it is known as Martín Fierro in reference to the folk character from the epic poem Martín Fierro by Argentinian author José Hernández.
In Brazil, a dessert known as Romeu e Julieta is made with Goiabada, guava paste with a similar consistency to quince cheese, and cheese. In May 2022, a variety of quince cheese known as Marmelada de Santa Luzia was recognized as an Immaterial Cultural Heritage of the Brazilian state of Goiás.
In the Philippines, it is known as membrilyo and is generally made from guava. It is usually served as a dessert during the Christmas Eve dinner (noche buena).
In French "quince paste" or pâte de coing is part of the Provence Christmas traditions and part of the thirteen desserts, which are the traditional dessert foods used in celebrating Christmas in the French region of Provence. In the city of Orléans, the cotignac is a speciality since middle age.
In Serbia, especially Vojvodina, all of Hungary, and continental Croatia, i.e., Slavonija quince cheese is an often prepared sweet and is named kitn(i)kes, derived from German…