The unusual Medlar fruit trees are closely related to Apples and are identified by large white flowers in late spring, followed by small rounded unusual-looking brown fruits picked in autumn and usually reach 4–6m tall and wide. The trees are generally problem-free and need little pruning, grow well on most soils, are productive and crop best in full sun.
Medlar fruits are a curious delicacy, where the flesh is eaten when it looks rotten. Just a few centuries ago, the medlar was a well-known fruit tree that was commonly grown in Britain, but now is not widely grown. Before the arrival of sugar, the fruit was considered a popular wintertime sweet treat, when there was little other fresh fruit available and was high in immunity-boosting vitamin C. The fruit, leaves and bark of the tree were also used in medicines for stomach complaints, and even today, medlar jelly is eaten alongside rich meats and thought to aid digestion. They’ve fallen out of favour in recent centuries, perhaps owing to their ‘rotten’ appearance and nicknames like ‘Monkey’s bottom’.
How to pick and eat a Medlar
Picked when still unripe, hard and bitter, the small golden-brown fruits must be stored for several weeks in a cool place to ripen (this is called bletting). They can also ripen / blett on the tree. Bletting is a softening process in which the fruit’s starches are converted into sugars and is essential to transform the hard and bitter medlar into a soft, sweet fruit. Although they look like they have spoiled, which goes some way to explaining why you probably won’t find ripe medlars on supermarket shelves, they are delicious if you’re willing to try them.
Once bletted the flesh looks rotten & turns into a dark mushy brown, a caramel colour, soft, sweet and aromatic. Tastes of apple puree with undertones of cinnamon, date & apricot. They can be cooked into sweet desserts, are traditionally teamed with cheese and port, used to make a fragrant amber jelly to accompany rich meats or made into medlar cheese. See some recipies below.
Medlar History
Medlars may have been cultivated aprox 3,000 years ago in parts of south-west Asia and southeastern Europe. The Greek naturalist and philosopher Theophrastus wrote about them in 300BC, and it is thought that they were introduced to Britain during the Roman period.
The French nick-named the fruit ‘cul de chien’, which describes the back end of a dog and alludes to the fruit’s unusual appearance. They thought medlar trees had magical powers which could protect their homes from witchcraft and sorcery.
The British invented similarly crude names for the fruit, which feature in the works of both Chaucer and Shakespeare. Medlars appear figuratively in literature throughout the ages, usually denoting decay and destitution, because of their rotten appearance.
ref: //www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/features/fascinating-facts-medlars
References to medlars in classical literature often play on the bletting process, with the medlar being used as a symbol of rottenness. For example, in the Jacobean play The Honest Whore by Thomas Dekker a character (somewhat cruelly) opines that “women are like medlars, no sooner ripe but rotten.” Katherine Mansfield’s friend D.H. Lawrence evidently wasn’t a fan of medlars, describing them as “wineskins of brown morbidity, autumnal excrementa … an exquisite odour of leave taking”. The medlar was also used for more bawdy humour, with it being nicknamed “open-arse” because of its shape. Shakespeare references this in Romeo & Juliet with Mercutio describing Romeo pining for Rosaline:
Now will he sit under a medlar tree,
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.
O Romeo, that she were, O that she were
An open-arse and thou a pop’rin pear!
Shakespeare references the medlar frequently. In As You Like It, Rosalind threatens to graft Touchstone to a medlar tree:
Rosalind: I’ll graff it with you, and then I shall graff it with a medlar: then it will be the earliest fruit i’ the country; for you’ll be rotten ere you be half ripe, and that’s the right virtue of the medlar.
Touchstone: You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge.
ref: //www.katherinemansfield.com/article/what-of-the-medlar
Medlar Recipies
How to make Medlar fruit puree
Half peel, half squidge and pull off the skin and discard. Also discard any black or pale flesh. Place the brown flesh in a sieve or fine colander over a large bowl and press the flesh through with the back of a large spoon. 1 kilo of medlars should yield about 500g of puree. Refrigerate and use within a few days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Raw Medlar Tart recipe
Full recipe & photos on //www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/raw-medlar-tart-recipe/
Looks yummy and very healthy!!
100g ground nuts
100g chopped dates
2 tbsp coconut oil
180g medlar puree (from 360g bletted medlars)
400ml can of coconut milk, refrigerated overnight (with no preservatives and suitable for whipping)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Make the tart base – lightly grease a 20cm tart tin with coconut oil. Combine the oil, dates and ground almonds in a food processor until a loose dough forms. Alternatively, warm the coconut oil in a small saucepan, stir in the dates and put aside for 10 minutes. Add the ground almonds and using your hands, combine the mixture until the dates have broken down and you have a sticky dough. Press the mixture into the tin, smoothing down the surface with the back of a wooden spoon.
Next add the medlar puree and spread evenly over the surface. At this stage you can refrigerate overnight. This will also firm up the topping and make it easier to remove from the tin. Open the can of coconut milk and spoon out the solid coconut cream only, put the coconut water aside (this can be used in drinks or curries). Add the vanilla extract and a teaspoon of the coconut water. Whip with an electric or hand whisk until creamy. Add a little coconut water, if too thick. Lather over the top of the tart and use a sieve or tea strainer to lightly dust the top with cinnamon. Best eaten at room temperature and eaten within a couple of days.
More recipies
Medlar Muffins – //www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/medlar-muffin-recipe/
Medlar Jelly – //www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/recipes/medlar-jelly
Medlar cheese – //www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/practical-guides/making-medlar-cheese/
