The quince is botanically a pome fruit. It is related to apples and pears, which are also members of the rose family and develop a fleshy accessory fruit around the core.
The fruit’s scientific name is Cydonia oblonga, and it is the sole species in the genus Cydonia. Quinces are typically yellow when mature and have a distinctive fragrance, but their firm, acidic flesh is usually cooked rather than eaten raw.
The fruit is not the source of the number in quinceañera. In Spanish, quince means “fifteen,” while the Spanish name for the fruit is also quince because the words have different historical origins and meanings in context. This creates a common language-based confusion.
Quince has a long culinary history in Europe, western Asia, and the Mediterranean. Cooking can turn its flesh pink or reddish and soften its texture, making it suitable for preserves, jellies, pastes, and desserts.