What's Happening?

Spring has sprung, and summer is properly here. The absolutely amazing weather seems to have brought out the best in wild food, and this year looks set to be a bumper crop of all sorts of goodies.

After last year’s dismal effort, the huge quantity of flowers in the spring seems to indicate that this year will be a extraordinary one for Bilberries – the bushes were literally groaning under the weight of the purple flowers, and they are now showing the green immature fruits growing nicely. Here is a description of the Bilberry.

Raspberries are similarly available in a plentiful supply. My usual bushes are not yet ripe – a few more weeks should see them emerge in their delicate glory. Keep checking your hunting grounds as they may be ready now and you don’t want to miss that boat. Here is a description of the Raspberry

Gooseberries! Wow! My local bush was, as of 3 weeks ago, growing nicely and full of life. I checked yesterday, however, and the whole thing was overgrown and all the leaves had been eaten by caterpillars. I did manage to salvage 8 Goooseberries, so not all was lost, but still, I’m not impressed! Next year I will do some weeding… or does that count as gardening rather than foraging? See post below for the details on Gooseberries. 

And ladies and gentlemen, the whole house once again smells of cat pee which can mean only one thing, the Elderflowers are in season. Get them whilst the going’s good… or not! They really seem to be everywhere this year, and one can smell them in the most unlikely places. Kate is making champagne again, but also a cordial, and is attempting to make a wine. We have a freezer full of the flowers too, so that should keep us going for a while! Recipe and description are here and here.

In other interesting news, I discovered a Medlar tree on my travels yesterday. I had thought the tree looked familiar when I first came across it in the spring, but I couldn’t place it. So, during yesterday evening’s ramble, I explored further and lo, the large leaves and the small emerging apple-like fruit gave it away. Here is a description of the Medlar. 

Elderflowers in full bloom.  

What was left of my Goosberry bush after the caterpillars!

Medlars!

So, some friends of ours have a Medlar tree in their garden – lucky them! They live in the wilds of Lancashire (Wigan to be precise), and inherited the tree from the previous residents. Interestingly, it had been grafted onto a Hawthorn tree at some stage, rather than grown as a tree in its own right, so someone had really, really, wanted Medlars! Anyway, as they are quite uncommon, here is some information about Medlars. Thanks Joy and John.

Medlar (Mespilu germanica)

Where: Woodland edges, hedgerows, sunny hillsides. Mainly in south.

What: Fruit

When: October – December

The Medlar, like the Quince, is one of the lesser known fruits due to its relative rarity growing both in the wild and as a cultivar. Once widely consumed by all and considered a delicacy (Shakespeare mentions the fruit), it is now confined to ‘those in the know’… and now you!

Growing either as a tree proper, or more commonly in the UK, rambling shrub, the Medlar can reach the height of 6m, though usually 4m or thereabouts. The leaves grow alternately on thorny branches, measure up to 12cm (occasionally more) in length, and up to 4cm wide, and are a relatively narrow long, spear-shaped, elipse in shape. They have a finely toothed edge and are a light green colour, with greenish brown ribs and veins and a lighter, downy, underside.

The bark is a greyish brown, with erratic vertical fissures and large flakes, not unlike that of the Wild Service Tree. The flowers occur in May and June, measuring up to 3 cm across, and usually shorter than the green sepals underneath, they are made up of 5 white petals with a yellow centre.

The fruit, whilst occurring in August, is edible from October onwards, and is brown to reddish brown in colour with a rough, slightly hairy, skin. It has a flat top with a crown made of the green sepals below the flower. The flesh is not unlike a hard apple, and contains 5 seeds measuring c. 1cm in length. Because they are not a native to this country, though they are naturalised, the fruit does not get a chance to ripen properly, and whilst they can be eaten when they are unripe, they are best picked and consumed once they have started to rot on or off the tree – ‘bletted’ is the correct term – usually after the first frosts in November onwards – keep an eye on them until they become soft and edible

The unripe, or unbletted, Medlar tastes sharp and astringent, and has a distinct sweet apply flavour. However, it is with the fully bletted fruit that you can appreciate the flavours – subtle and certainly unique, it is not unlike a sweet apple mixed with caramel, with hints of spices (cinnamon?) and a sharp taste. Look, just try it will you! People do say it’s an acquired taste, but I love it.

I spend a lot of time working on the island of Crete where the Medlar is a delicacy and is known as μούσμουλο (Musmulo) – the word itself is Turkish and is a hangover from the Ottoman occupation of Greece. And whilst we are on the subject of etymology, it was in cruder times, once known as ‘open arse’ – for obvious reasons – and its welsh name ‘afal tinagored’ means the same, whilst the French name, 'cul de chien', means dog’s arse. So now you know.

Enough arsing about, and onto the recipes. It makes a great jam/jelly, good in a tart (see photograph), and can be eaten raw – apparently the best way is to suck the bletted interior from the fruit like a vampire. It can also be turned into a wine, although this, one assumes, if you are fond of sweet wines.