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FOOD making carbs count
Winter fruits (part 1)
Off-beat English fruits - damsons, greengages
medlars, mulberries, persimmon and quince. Part 1 -
the rock-hard ones. By Sue Marshall.
English orchards go far beyond
just apples and pears… in
this article we'll look at the
last fruit to be harvested in
our orchards - the medlar. This is a
fruit that was in regular use in the
medieval era up until the early 1900s
in the UK, a little less so now. At first
look and touch, you'd be forgiven
for thinking these funny little things
were nuts… in fact they are a halfway
house between a crab apple and
a rosehip. Along with other aspect
of this strange fruit, it needs to be
'bletted' before it is edible - basically
it softens as it ripens but is almost
rotten by that time.
The exotic* and orange-coloured
persimmon, also known as Sharon
fruit. Whilst not as hard as either
medlars or quince, it can be quite
firm, with thin skin, so can be eaten
whole, like an apple, but adds a burst
of colour as an ingredient to salads
and desserts.
Meanwhile yellow quince really
are like cannon balls (and not
necessarily 'lookers') and take a fair
bit of prep before they are edible.
These are famously used for quince
paste - also known as membrillo
¬- a great accompaniment to cheese
and crackers.
Each of these are available in the
last few months of the year and have
often been a part of British winter's
food scene. Here we go, with the
'hard fruits' of winter.
Medlar
The following is by Jane Steward, the
Plant Heritage National Collection
Holder of medlars based in Norfolk.
She launched Eastgate Larder, the
UK's only medlar-focused enterprise,
in 2016. Her harvest is destined
for medlar jelly and spicy medlar
chutney, and her products are
stocked at independent food shops.
"A cousin of the apple, pear and
quince, the medlar is a member
of the Rosaceae family, probably
originating somewhere between the
Caspian and Black seas. It meandered
slowly west across the Continent
in the company of Greeks, and
northwards with the Romans, and
turned up here during the Roman
occupation of Britain. Having been a
useful part of the British winter diet
for centuries, they were falling out of
fashion by the end of the first world
war.
"The medlar is the last orchard
fruit to be harvested, usually from
the end of October.
Medlars are climacteric fruits:
usually, but not always, becoming
fully ripe and edible off the tree.
Harvest them after they have
fully grown, about 180 days after
pollination. Bletting starts in the
middle of the fruit, and is complete
when the skin is dark, the fruit smells