The Misunderstood Medlar

I was recently introduced to an uncommon fruit, the medlar, by a co-worker who had joined the Seattle Fruit Tree Society. One of the members gave her a few medlars and I was lucky enough to get one to taste. The medlar must be bletted (or seriously rippened) before eaten. The soften fruit tastes like a cross between apple butter and lemon. In the MIddle Ages, the fruits were packed in straw in barns, and allowed to ripen making them one of the few fruits available during the winter.

There are numerous literary references to this fruit, including Chaucer, Shakespeare and others. In the 16th and 17th centuries, medlars were bawdily called "open-arses" because of the shape of the fruits, inspiring boisterous or humorously indecent puns in many Elizabethan and Jacobean plays. The French refer to them as "cul de chien" (dog butt).

We just had the one fruit to sample but if you do find a tree in your area, there are many things you can make with them, from pie, to jelly to 'cheese'.

But I think one of the best things about the medlar is it's potential as an insult. You can call someone a medlar and they won't know you are calling them a dog's butt!