The medlar

In Praise of Medlars - Get the Most from these Delicious Fruit

About

Medlar, (genus Mespilus), either of two species of the genus Mespilus of the rose family (Rosaceae).

Mespilus germanica
Known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. The fruit of this tree is also called the medlar. The fruit has been cultivated since Roman times, and is unusual in being available in winter. It is eaten raw and in a range of dishes. In the southwest of England it historically had a number of vulgar nicknames, such as open-arse and monkey’s bottom, due to the appearance of its large calyx.

The plant is native to Europe, from the Netherlands southward, and to southwestern Asia. The flowers are white or pink-tinged, with five petals, and produce a brown globular fruit with leafy persistent sepals. The fruit is not fit to eat immediately after picking. It must first undergo a process known as bletting (i.e., the flesh turns soft and brown); it then takes on an agreeable acidic and somewhat astringent flavour. Several varieties are cultivated.

Fruit cut in half showing brown 'bletting' which makes it edible
Bletting begins on one side of the fruit. Bletted flesh is brown; ripe but unbletted flesh is white.

Stern’s medlar (M. canescens)
Was discovered in 1990 in Arkansas, though its taxonomy has been controversial. Stern’s medlar reaches heights of 4.5–6 metres (15–20 feet). It is a deciduous tree or shrub that bears showy white flowers. The fruit is a glossy red pome and is edible if bletted. The species is listed as critically endangered; only about 25 individuals exist in its native habitat.
(source: https://www.britannica.com/plant/Mespilus)

Cultivation and uses

The medlar was introduced to Greece around 700 BC, and to Rome about 200 BC. It was an important fruit plant during Roman and medieval times. By the seventeen and eighteenth centuries, however, it had been superseded by other fruits, and is little cultivated today.

M. germanica pomes are one of the few fruits that become edible in winter, making it an important tree for gardeners who wish to have fruit available all year round. M. germanica plants can be grafted onto the rootstock of another species, for example the pear, quince, or hawthorn, to improve their performance in different soils.

Mespilus germanica fruits are hard and acidic, but become edible after being softened, ‘bletted’, by frost, or naturally in storage if given sufficient time. Once softening begins, the skin rapidly takes on a wrinkled texture and turns dark brown, and the inside reduces to the consistency and flavour reminiscent of apple sauce. This process can confuse those new to medlars, as its softened fruit looks as if it has spoiled.

Once bletted, the fruit can be eaten raw and often is eaten as a dessert, or used to make medlar jelly. They are used in “Medlar cheese”, which is similar to lemon curd, being made with the fruit pulp, eggs, and butter. So-called medlar tea usually is not made from M. germanica, but from wolfberry or goji, which is sometimes called “red medlar”.

Cultivars of Mespilus germanica that are grown for their fruit include ‘Hollandia’, ‘Nottingham’, and ‘Russian’, the large-fruited variety ‘Dutch’ (also known as ‘Giant’ or ‘Monstrous’), ‘Royal’, ‘Breda giant’, and ‘Large Russian’. The cultivar ‘Nottingham’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Medlar (Mespilus Germanica) Aka Common Medlar Fruit Vegetarian.. Stock  Photo, Picture And Royalty Free Image. Image 58381459.

Chaucer

A fruit which is rotten before it is ripe, the medlar is used figuratively in literature as a symbol of prostitution or premature destitution. For example, in the Prologue to The Reeve’s TaleGeoffrey Chaucer‘s character laments his old age, comparing himself to the medlar, which he names using the Old English term for the fruit, “open-arse“:

This white top writeth myne olde yeris;
Myn herte is mowled also as myne heris —
But if I fare as dooth an open-ers.
That ilke fruyt is ever lenger the wers,
Til it be roten in mullok or in stree.
We olde men, I drede, so fare we:
Til we be roten, kan we nat be rype;

Articles

The forgotten medieval fruit with a vulgar name

A drawing of medlar fruits from around 1600 (Credit: Alamy)

Medieval Europeans were fanatical about a strange fruit that could only be eaten rotten. Then it was forgotten altogether. Why did they love it so much? And why did it disappear?

In 2011, archaeologists found something unusual in a Roman toilet.

The team were excavating the ancient village of Tasgetium (now Eschenz, Switzerland), ruled by a Celtic king who was personally given the land by Julius Caesar. It was built on the banks of the river Rhine, along what was then an important trade route – and as a result, its remains have been steeped in water ever since. What should have rotted away centuries ago was uncovered in a remarkable state of preservation, protected by the lack of oxygen in the boggy conditions.

It was here that, nestled among the remains of familiar foods such as plums, damsons, cherries, peaches and walnuts in an ancient cesspit, the archaeologists found 19 curiously large seeds. Though they were, let’s say, “deposited” there nearly 2,000 years ago, they almost looked fresh enough to have been found yesterday – except that the fruit they belong to is now so obscure, it can baffle even professional botanists.

Read more

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Videos

An Elizabethan fruit, that you’ve probably never heard of, is having a come back in Norfolk. The Medlar – which is part of the apple family – used to be a regular on British dinner tables, but lost popularity in the last 100 years or so.

Eastgate Larder. Norfolk specialist grower reviving the medlar. Our Eastgate medlar orchard is a Plant Heritage National Collection. My medlar jelly, fruit cheese & limited edition spicy chutney are available at fine independent food shops across England.
https://www.facebook.com/ArtisanalMedlarPreserves/

Many of you asked how a medlar tastes. I have asked someone who never tasted a medlar before to have a go on our harvest of Iranian medlar. Join us to experience the joy of an ancient exotic fruit.
In this video I show you our medlar tree, which is an ancient type of fruit tree cultivated since Roman times. It is no longer as commonly grown as it was several hundred years ago but many people still love the taste of it – which is reminiscent of apple sauce infused with dates and cinnamon. Super sweet and super delicious. The fruit is only eaten after it has been bletted. Bletting is a process that increases the sweetness of the fruit and reduces the sourness. You should harvest the fruits after they are hit with frost and then store them for a couple of weeks in a cool, dry place until they are basically looking like they are rotten. This will ensure they are maximally soft and sweet. The insides will look like a brown mush and resemble apple sauce. The inside can be squeezed or scooped out from the paper thin skin. Recent rainstorms have knocked off several fruits from the tree and I’ve been saving them in the freezer to mimic the frost stage. After thawing them out, I will set them aside and hopefully they will be ready for eating in a few weeks. Check back and I will show you what they look like later! And naturally, I will also show you how I harvest the full crop in late October.
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