Medlar Flower

Day 218: I fully expected the medlar tree to drop its buds after planting, but almost every tip now has a flower, and I'm hoping there are enough pollinators around to do the job. Technically, I suppose I shouldn't allow it to set fruit for a couple of years, but medlars are more vigorous than better-known fruit trees like apples, pears, peaches and such, so I think I'm simply going to let Nature take her course. Obviously, there won't be enough for a batch of jelly, but I can either freeze the juice to add to next year's crop, or I can eat medlars. Yes, the fruit of this unusual tree is edible, although most people cringe at the thought of eating it when it has turned to mush. It is actually quite tasty, somewhat honeyed, perhaps with notes of apple or rose. The texture is similar to that of persimmon, another oddity which has varieties suitable for the Pacific Northwest.

The Funkiest Fruit

Day 50: One of my personal mottoes is this: life is too short not to try new foods. I've eaten some strange things in my time (commercially-produced deep-fried caterpillar larvae, for example, which were actually quite good), and when the opportunity arises to sample something new, I'm nearly always game. When a friend first offered me medlars, I had no idea what she was talking about. I began researching the subject and found out that this unusual fruit may well have been one of the first cultivated as a foodstuff. It is a member of the Rose family and native to Europe, hence the scientific name Mespilus germanica. But the more I read, the more I wondered why anyone ever put one in their mouth in the first place. You see, medlars are only ready for use when they're rotten.

Unripe, the medlar is hard and tart, but when they've been hit by a few frosts or have lain on the ground for a while, the interior goes soft and mushy. They can also be gathered when unripe and brought to this stage by a process called bletting in which they are allowed to ferment/rot in storage. This photo shows some being bletted on my dehydrator racks. I've already processed one batch with the intention of making medlar jelly, a purportedly delicious and honey-like concoction. Medlars can also be eaten out of hand, so I tried a thoroughly squishy one while I was sorting these according to ripeness. The texture was similar to that of persimmon, and the flavour carried notes of both persimmon and apple with a hint of pear in the background. You just don't want to look at what you're eating.

To make a clear jelly, whole medlars should be gently simmered for 1-1.5 hours undisturbed. Simply add enough water to barely cover and bring to a boil. Cool slightly, and filter the processed medlars through a jelly bag. You'll be throwing away a lot of pulp, skin and large seeds, but don't let that deter you. What you want is the beautiful, ruby-coloured liquor dripping from your jelly bag over the next 12  hours. Measure the liquid, add 1/2 as much sugar (by volume), and cook down as you would any other non-pectin jelly. Use a cold plate to check for consistency, and when your jelly is done, jar it up and process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. It will be a week or more before all my medlars have been processed, so you'll have to stay tuned for a report on the flavour of the jelly.