quince and honey tajine

Ingredients for 6 to 8 people :

* 1 1/2 kg (3 lbs 5 oz) of meat (mutton shoulder and chops or veal knuckle)

* 1  1/2 kg (3 lbs 5 oz) of quinces * 200 g (7 oz) of butter * 1 teaspoonful of pepper

* 1 coffeespoonful of saffron (mixture of packet saffron and crushed flowers)

* 1 stick of cinnamon * 2 large grated onions * 2 soupspoonfuls of caster sugar

* 1 soupspoonful of cinnamon * 5 soupspoonfuls of thick honey

Preparation:

Cut the meat into pieces weighing about 150 g (5 oz). Rinse and place in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Add salt, pepper, saffron, the stick of cinnamon, grated onion and butter. Cover with water. Cook with the lid on, stirring from time to time. Add a little water if necessary, When the meat is almost cooked, add sugar and the cinnamon, mix well and when the meat is cooked and can be broken in the fingers, take it out of the saucepan. Put the seeded but unpeeled quinces, halved or quartered according to size, into the sauce. Add the honey and leave to cook over a low heat. Keep a close watch on the quinces as some cook faster than others.

Take them out of the sauce as they are cooked, then leave th sauce to boil down until it becomes thick and rich. Put both the meat and the quinces back into the saucepan, the former on one side the latter on the other, and leave to simmer for 10 minutes so that the quinces absorb the sauce, Serve really hot on a round dish, with the meat at the bottom, then the quinces arid finally the sauce over the top.