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The Dogmother

Medlars

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OK, who knows anything about them and what to do?

 

I have access to a treeload of medlars, and all I know is that they either have to be 'bletted' to mature, or left on the tree until nearly squishy :?

 

I want to try making jelly out of them if possible.

 

I'll google tomorrow, but would prefer some first hand advice if you've used them before.

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Found this on t'interweb.

 

Medlars are picked after the first frost, when the leaves have fallen, and the fruit is soft, brown and rotten looking. The fruit can also be picked at leaf fall and ripened indoors in cooler climates. Medlar fruit isn't for everyone. (The tree on the other hand is attractive enough to grow even if you leave the fruit for the birds).

 

 

Medlar Jelly

(This is truly wonderful stuff!)

 

fruit

sugar

water

lemon juice

 

Cover fruit with water, simmer till soft.

Strain off juice.

For every two cups of juice, add two cups sugar and juice of a lemon.

Boil till a little sets on a plate- by this stage it will be volcanic and shooting up small geysers, so stir so it doesn't stick.

 

Doesn't say what happens next. I suppose you bottle it.

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I just did a bit of a search and came up with the same info Egluntine - thanks for that. I went through the park this morning on the way to school and they're mostly squishy and ready to pick; I'll go down there at the weekend with a trug and pick as many as I can reach. The tree is very pretty in it's own tight - small, nice shape (just like me :wink: ), with pretty blossom and long, oval leaves.

 

medlars.jpg

 

mespgerman.jpg

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Rosie and I picked the medlars from the tree in the park yesterday - we got a bucketful. Medlars are a traditional fruit used a lot in the middle ages to made Medlar Cheese or Medlar Jelly, to eat with meats and cheese.They need to be picked when very soft and almost mushy, which is very messy, or picked harder and frozen so that they are soft before you use them. The original way to 'age' them was 'bletting', which involved picking them while they are still hard and then stacking them in boxes filled with straw...all very well if you have the room to stack them!

 

medlar.jpg

 

In the absence of any advice on how to prepare them for jelly making, I decided to split the skins and squeeze the pulp out; it looks like that chocolate custard baby food, but is really sticky and doesn't taste of anything at all, just slightly sweet - first disappointment :roll:

 

Medlars have pits like olives - I didn't bother taking them out, they just went in the pan as well - it was all too messy by then. I added enough water to cover the pulp and boiled it all up. By this time it looked really uninspiring - just a load of pooey looking mush and I was beginning to lose interest. I sieved the pulp to remove most of the bits and was left with a lighter sort of puree, which I hung in a jelly bag to strain. Unlike most fruit, it was very slow to drip so I left it over night.

 

The resulting liquid was clear and syrupy looking but didn't taste of anything in particular. I boiled it up with 1lb of sugar per pint of the liquid and the juice of half a lemon to provide a jelling agent. I ended up with one large jar and one small jar of very pale greeny yellow jelly. I haven't tasted it yet but suspect it doesn't have much flavour.

 

Medlarjelly.jpg

 

Oh well, it was an interesting exercise, if only to satisfy my curiousity. I shan't bother again next year though - you need too many medlars to produce a decent amount of jelly!

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I only just saw this (a bit late as you have already used the medlars!) - I made medlar jelly last year and still have some left so haven't made any this year. It gets round the problem of all the bits and pips and so on. I didn't wait until they were bletted. I have waited in previous years and then decided I didn't like the look of them and just left them to drop off the tree.

 

The jelly is slightly astringent, even with sugar in, and a nice red/gold colour.

 

I read in a book (can't remember which, now) that bletted medlars are an acquired taste. And that most people don't acquire it! But the tree is very attractive.

 

Milly

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Just a conclusion to this thread.. I've tried the jelly at last!

 

Just had a lovely lunch.. I had a Gloucester old spot pork chop from Lesley and Carl's farm, new and sweet potatoes, french beans and Medlar jelly. The chop was lovely and tasty, plenty of flavour. The Medlar jelly was good too; the first time I had tasted it since I made it, it has a delicate, fragrant taste like sweet, weak tea. Next time (if I can be bothered again :roll: ) I might add the tiniest bit of ginger to it.

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