Medlars (Mespillus Germanica Rosaceae) are not a fruit that you stumble across very often in New Zealand & even if you did, you probably wouldn't have a clue what to do with them. I have found them once before a few years ago, but I didn't quite figure them out & we just enjoyed their oddness and ended up composting them.
So, two weekends ago, in mid May, when we were walking at Park Island in Napier, we certainly never expected to wander off the beaten track, follow the meandering path in to a wild area and stumble on a spendid Medlar tree- at just the perfect time. We spent quite some time with this wonderful tree and picked some fruit to bring home with us. It turns out that Medlars are an ancient fruit from South West Asia- they are related to hawthorn and pears & are of the rose family.
Having never tasted them before we decided just to remain curious and see what happened as we waited for them to ripen. Just like quince, medlars are inedible when hard and have a similar gritty texture at that point. Unlike quince, Medlars eventually ripen up in to the most delicious cinnamon apple saucy squishiness that we think is just yummy. The process of ripening is known as bletting- not sure why the fuss about it- they just get ripe and therefore become totally useable.
This Medlar is perfect to eat and when opened is a wonderful rich toffee colour. I love them just as they are.
They are delicious with soft cheese, walnuts, pears and other autumn/winter fruits.
Medlars have really interesting stones in them (not pips), but the soft flesh can be spooned out and spread on things.
I think that eating them just like this is my favourite way to enjoy them, but I thought that I would explore other uses. I found a recipe for making Medlar cheese just
here which was really helpful. I soon found an even quicker way to use the ripe fruit than described. So what I did was to place 2 kilos of whole washed soft medlars in to a large pot with 750 ml of water. Now just squash the fruit with a potato masher- they squash up so easily!
Then pour in to a sieve/collander that is fairly open but without actual large holes in it. I use this one such a lot. It's perfect for hawthorn berries too.
Work the pulp through the mesh until there's just the skin and seeds and lumpy bits left. Then pour the sieved pulp back in to the pot. I decided at this point to not put all my Medlars in one pot and poured off some of the mixture in to a smaller pot, added a little brown sugar and cooked the pulp for 10 minutes or so- hard to tell if Medlars are cooked or not! I then added a tsp of homemade vanilla essence and put the cooked Medlar in to a jar to store in the fridge.
It tastes delicious and is lovely with yoghurt for breakfast.
I then cooked the rest of the Medlar sauce in the pot for 10 minutes or so, then used a cupful to make a Medlar baked custard.
Beat 2 eggs with a tbsp of brown or raw sugar.
Heat 1 cup of cream in a small pot until just not quite boiling and pour over the eggs- whisking as you pour.
Add 1 cup of the Medlar sauce and a 1tsp of vanilla essence.
Whisk altogether.
Pour in to small pots or a larger one.
Bake in a moderate oven in a water bath until golden and just set.
Now- the remainder of the sauce in the big pot- I kept cooking it over a low heat, stirring often as I was still in the kitchen cooking dinner, and when it's reduced by around half add around about a cup for cup of raw sugar (I'll do less next time). Stir to dissolve the sugar and continue to cook the sweetened pulp on low heat until it's gorgeously chestnut brown and glossy- probably an hour or so. Pour in to greased paper (I use a natural wax paper) in a shape that works for you. I've got mine curing by the fire. Handy that Medlars ripen in winter! I'll see how I go, but I'll probably store the cheese in the fridge and serve it with soft cheeses, ripe pears and toasted walnuts. We both love the flavour of Medlars- cooked, they remind us both of the lovely acorns that we worked with back in April.
Goodness, the Medlar exploration continues.
I have decided that my favourite way to eat Medlars is to open out a ripe Medlar and spread the soft caramelly flesh over a perfectly ripe, sliced sweet persimmon. A perfect balance of flavours & tastes.
Having discovered that the soft ripe insides of a Medlar are so delicious I then tried making Medlar ice-cream. Oh, it's wonderful!
Here's what I did:
Scoop out the flesh of 5-8 ripe Medlars and add them to a small bowl,
Add a tbsp of any lovely honey- runny is good
1 dsp of homemade vanilla essence
1/2 tsp of cinnamon & 1/4 tsp of ginger
Mix altogether.
Beat 250 ml of cream in another bowl until firm
Fold the two lots together & freeze.
That's it!
Since we had sadly neglected some beautiful bananas, we made fritters with them tonight and served them with Medlar ice-cream and toasted coconut flakes and walnuts- so delicious!! Awful photo, but we were hungry and it's night time.
The banana fritters- 4 or 5 mashed ripe bananas
a pinch of salt & a tsp vanilla essence
1/2 sunflower flour, 1/2 cup spelt flour
1 egg, 1 tsp baking powder
Mix altogether.
Cook in a non stick or cast iron pan in butter until golden.
Delicious served with Medlar ice-cream!
And topped with coconut flakes and walnuts toasted in a cast iron fry pan with a little date syrup, or maple syrup or honey added in the last few minutes and a teeny pinch of salt.
Medlars have some lovely medicinal attributes too. We find them really digestible and they feel very nourishing to us. I found this page most interesting so I will link it
here and do some more research on the Medlar benefits soon.
I have also discovered that there is a Medlar tree in the
Katherine Mansfield Garden in Wellington- how fascinating! So much more to experience of this interesting tree.
Katie X
