Posted on 03/29/2021 5:16:45 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Medieval Europeans were fanatical about a strange fruit that could only be eaten rotten. Then it was forgotten altogether. Why did they love it so much? And why did it disappear?
The polite, socially acceptable name by which it's currently known is the medlar. But for the best part of 900 years, the fruit was called the "open-arse" – thought to be a reference to the appearance of its own large "calyx" or bottom.
And yet, medieval Europe was crazy about this fruit.
The fruit are unusual for two reasons. Firstly, they're harvested in December – making them one of very few sources of sugar that would have been available in medieval winters. Secondly, they only become edible when they're rotten.
When they're first picked, medlars are greenish brown and resemble oddly-shaped onions or alien-looking persimmons. If they're eaten straight away, they can make you violently ill – one 18th Century doctor and botanist said that they cause diarrhoea. But if you put them in a crate of sawdust or straw and forget about them for several weeks, they gradually darken and their hard, astringent flesh softens to the consistency of a baked apple.
Fast-forward to 2021, and the medlar is now not quite so little-known in Europe as it once was. It's begun quietly sneaking back into public awareness – largely thanks to the efforts of enthusiasts such as Steward, who markets her own range of medlar products, including jam and gin.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Ever bite into a persimmon not ready for eating?...........................
On the other hand a ripened soft wild persimmon is very tasty. We had 2 trees on our Jersey shore property. My two year old son was crawling around on the grass in the fall and picked one up that had fallen. Then he bit it and decided it was good and finished eating it. I did not know about eating it but I knew it was a persimmon and therefore edible so I tried one and it was delicious. The only problem is the seeds. Anyway, after that every fall we looked forward to the harvest. I used to like mashing them up and rubbing the flesh away from the seeds and then using the flesh to make persimmon bread with a banana bread recipe.
Good catch!
The actual fresh fruit is best, but it’s also the strongest off smell. It does not taste bad, but quite good. You need to divorce your smell from affecting your taste too much, though.
The texture is mazing—it’s literally like someone made a “finger pudding,” similar to “finger jello.” The fresh fruit pod is soft but firm enough to freely hold without a mess of any sort. Imagine a super large reconstituted kidney bean, but sweet and tasty and just a bit less firm.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148468/medlars-and-sorb-apples
Medlars and Sorb-Apples
By D. H. Lawrence
I love you, rotten,
Delicious rottenness.
I love to suck you out from your skins
So brown and soft and coming suave,
So morbid, as the Italians say.
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