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.
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 By the seventeen and eighteenth centuries, however, it had been superseded by other fruits, and is little cultivated today.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.
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 Tale, Geoffrey 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
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.
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Videos
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.
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