Meddling with Medlars

My friend Alison kindly sent me this recipe for medlar jelly, she also took the lovely photographs to illustrate the process.

People have been eating medlars for a long time; Shakespeare said some fairly rude things about them, some people call them cat’s bottoms and others, worse things still but the end result here looks like bottled rubies.

Cat's Bottoms!

Here is Alison’s Medlar Jelly recipe...

1.      Pick the medlars when they are hard and store in a cool place for 2 - 3 weeks until soft (bletted).

When the Stored Medlars Change Colour, they are Bletted

2.      When your medlars are bletted gather a few more firm medlars to mix with them. This helps the jelly set.

3.      Cut the fruit into quarters and place in a large pan. Cover them with water and slowly bring to the boil. Cook for about 1 hour until the fruit is soft.

4.      Gently strain the fruit through a jelly bag. Do not squeeze the bag as this will make the jelly cloudy. Leave it overnight if necessary.

5.      Measure the juice back into a large pan and for each 600mls add 450 g of sugar. Bring slowly to a rolling boil and cook until jelly reaches setting point 220 - 222 degrees C.

6.      Remove scum with a spoon and pour into sterilised jars.

Ta Da! Like Bottled Rubies

Medlars are not very common and even less well know; I thought I had found some earlier this year but they turned out to be only some kind of small pear, they still tasted very good after they had changed colour though.

I must find out what they might have been...