Medlars

You'd be hard-pressed to find a medlar in a fruit shop these days. To be honest, you'd be hard-pressed to find a fruit shop these days. But I am reliably informed that we have been eating this weird-looking fruit since the Romans introduced it to Europe 2,000 years ago (1) until it fell out of favour in the 1950s.

Medlars - looking not at all bum-like

The reason that the medlar was popular for 2,000 years is certainly not because of its user-friendly properties. You don't just pick it off the tree and eat unless you have teeth like a horse and guts that can withstand the onslaught. No, you pick the fruit in October and November when the little brown globes are about 2 inches in diameter and as hard as bricks and then you have to carefully store them (crate of hay or sawdust) for a month until they become VERY ripe, in the process known as 'bletting'.

This was a term invented in the 19th century (derived from the French verb blettir - to become over-ripe) to describe the process required to turn this fruit into something that tastes a bit like a cooked spiced pear.  

Although it was very useful in the Dig For Victory campaign in the second world war, I rather think that it fell out of favour, not just for the dreary process of bletting and having to pick fruit in chilly November, but also for its unfortunate resemblance to an arse-hole. 

Some aliases for the medlar:

'open arse' 
'granny arse'
'cul de singe (monkey bum)
'cu d'ane (ass's arse)
'cul de chien (dog's arse)

You get the general drift.

More seriously, I think it possibly fell by the wayside in the 1950s when the UK probably started getting more fruit and veg from around the world, with the advent of the 'supermarket'. Why have a medlar rotting away quietly on your shelves when you can have a pound of imported pears? 

Not only does it have some wild nicknames, it's also mentioned in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (2)

Of the same family as roses, crab apples and quinces and the medlar does look a little bit like a rose-hip with those long tails at the calyx. You can turn the bletted fruit into cheese or jelly and apparently it works beautifully with cold meats and cheese - and can be added to gravy include in an apple pie for a taste of je ne sais quoi. 

If you are feeling adventurous, you can buy a tree online.You can expect a very light crop on a tree from about 3 or 4 years. It is, I'm assured, easy to grow and doesn't need pruning (yas!)

Not got a tree but want to find out what medlars taste like? Tiptree do a medlar jelly that you can buy online and you can, of course, buy small batch jellies throughout the country from patient bletters with big airing cupboards.

And old trees are being rediscovered all the time! Three trees have been uncovered at an overgrown Nature's World sit in Acklam, Middlesbrough (3). 

Have you tasted medlar cheese or jelly? Do you have a tree in your garden or know of one nearby? Are there any in Scotland that you can share details for? 

(1) Here's a link to a list of remnants found in a water-logged Roman latrine that dates back 2,000 years.

(2) O Romeo, that she were, O that she were/An open-arse, and thou a pop'rin pear! (Shakespeare) and "But if I fare as dooth an open-ers" (Chaucer)

(3) You can read more about the news story HERE  <- BBC site, so it's a trustworthy link.