Food connects people with each other and also with their history. Eating the food our ancestors used to eat is one of the few ways we can get a direct experience of life in the past. 

One of the fruits that used to be very popular in mediaeval England is medlar, but these days, not many people have heard of them, not even indigenous English people. The photo of medlars here was taken at RHS Wisley, UK.

Medlars look like rotten apples, and they were winter treats before sugar was discovered. They were also a good source of Vitamin C when fruits were scarce in wintertime. 

Here’s an interesting thing about medlars – you can’t just pick them, they have to be ‘bletted’. Bletting is actually a stage, rather than a process, between being ripe and rotting. It is early stage of rotting, just before the food goes bad!

Do you know of any interesting ‘old’ fruits? Email jacqueline@cheeseplantbooks.com

If you are interested in Historical Cooking/Ethnobotany, drop us an email too at the address above.