How to enjoy a medlar

Community Chef Samantha Wells explores how to prepare and enjoy medlars, one of Scotland’s forgotten fruits.

Have you ever bletted a medlar? No? Neither had we.

The rarely seen medlar comes from a tree in the apple family. Now largely forgotten fruits, they were once the talk of the town.

In medieval times, medlars were a delicacy and a sweet treat. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet gives them a mention.

One of the more unusual things about this fruit is the process of having to allow them to soften before you can use them, known as bletting.

We spotted the medlars on a tour of the community orchard at Ravenscraig Walled Garden this autumn. Referred to quite disdainfully in French as a rather explicit version of the phrase ‘cat’s bottom’ due to the way they look, I think they are rather exotic and beautiful.

We stripped the whole medlar tree of its fruit. Guided by Carol who leads our Outdoor Projects Team, and some research, our medlars went into hiding. They were stored face down in a cool dark cupboard for over five weeks.

The medlars slowly changed from a pale crocodile green to a rather stewed tea colour and became slightly tender, with a vague whiff of port or stewed prunes.

Eaten after bletting they were a curious blend of a date, cold tea and fig, with a hint of apple. We scooped some of the middles out and found the insides were cheek-suckingly dry. They would be nice on top of some granola and yoghurt, or smeared on an oatcake with strong cheese.

Cooking them was a labour of love. We simmered them in water for roughly 30 minutes and once they were tender, we mashed them to create a lumpy puree.

We then sieved away the seeds and skins, and weighed the remaining fruit. We added half the weight in sugar and cooked it out until it became thick and jam-like.

I added cinnamon and ground ginger because Christmas spices have well and truly taken over the kitchen. But some vanilla or lime or lemon zest would be fun too.

The resulting ruby red ‘jam’ could be defined as a jelly or a cheese as the pectin gives it a firmer texture. As a cheeky addition to a cheese board, it would be make a nice change to quince jelly.

We used some of the medlar cheese in our cookery club. We filled some quirky filo parcels with it alongside roasted pumpkin and toasted walnuts.

Medlars are an unusual fruit that are worth the effort to prepare them. So if you see medlars at a farmers market next year, why not grab some and give them a whirl!

Samantha Wells, Community Chef