Norfolk orchard of long-forgotten medlars is bearing fruit

Jane Stewart from Eastgate Larder. Her medlar fruit trees. Picture: ANTONY KELLY (Image: Archant Norfolk 2017)

Jane Steward began growing the medlar – a small, red-brown fruit related to the apple – on her six-acre estate near Horsford less than two years ago, while recovering from bowel cancer.

Her company Eastgate Larder – the only Norfolk producer to use medlars in all its product – had a successful showing at last year's Aylsham Show, marketing produce made with fruit from other growers.

After completing her first harvest in November, Ms Steward is confident her operation will blossom.

'This business has resulted from my need to dig, plant and make after my illness,' she said.

'There is huge potential in this fruit and few people are taking advantage of it.

'I want to see how many possibilities there are with the medlar. We need to be creative and innovative with the fruit we grow here.'

She added: 'I want to see Norfolk leading the revival of this fruit.'

Ms Steward, a linguist by trade who worked in the City, was introduced to the fruit by her husband David and has since inherited a crop of trees from his family.

Her range so far includes a medlar jelly, made with the fruit's juice, and a fruit cheese made with highly concentrated fruit pulp, and she is also experimenting with fruit chutneys.

In her exploration of the fruit's potential, Ms Steward has also been in contact with gin and cider producers in Norfolk.

She estimates her orchard of 100 Nottingham medlar trees could produce up to 1,000kg of fruit a year – but is keen to keep established links with other growers.

Alongside her productive orchard, Ms Steward is cultivating a separate orchard of different medlar varieties, which so far has eight specimens including Dutch Monstress and Flanders Giant.

Despite being a small business Ms Steward takes corporate responsibility very seriously, with 5% of her proceeds from farmers' markets and events are donated to the renovation of Thornage Hall herb garden and payments from her pick-your-own medlar purchases going to help a cancer charity, a National Trust property and a Norwich pre-school.

This year Eastgate Larder – registered with Proudly Norfolk and the Guild of Fine Foods – will be returning to the Aylsham Show and seasonal markets at Thornage Hall, and Ms Stewart has also applied for a pitch at the Royal Norfolk Show.

She says she would like to see her products go nationwide – but on the shelves on independent stockists rather than supermarkets.

A long-forgotten fruit

The medlar is a small red-brown fruit, related to the apple family, which is indigenous to southeast Europe and southwest Asia.

It grows well in dry conditions – making East Anglia a good location for its revival – and is harvested late in the year, around November.

A process called bletting – leaving the fruit to ripen in a cool place for a number of weeks – is required to make it edible. The bletted flesh turns brown and soft, while unbletted flesh is hard and white.

Medlars were very popular in England during Roman and medieval times and were still commonly eaten until the 19th century, by which time it was being superseded by fruits which were easier to prepare and cultivate.

In previous centuries a basket of medlars on the table was a sign of affluence, with the fruit used as a sweet treat in place of snacks made with sugar or chocolate.

Medlar trees are still naturally occurring in pockets of southern England.

How to cook with medlars

The process of preparing medlars starts with bletting. This can be done naturally (with a hard frost) or by leaving the fruit in a cool place to ripen.

Once bletted, the flesh will turn soft and brown – almost rotten-looking – and can be eaten either raw, or used to make jelly or fruit cheese.

Jane Steward uses organically grown Nottingham medlars and cooks in small batches with around 2kg of fruit, which yield around the same amount of product.

The fruits are boiled for around an hour before being sieved. The fruit juice is used to make medlar jelly, and the highly concentrated pulp to make the fruit cheese.

All her products are made with locally produced sugar and use natural pectin from lemon juice.

While Eastgate Larder is the only Norfolk producer to use medlars in all its products, other preserve makers including Tiptree in Essex use the fruit in their product ranges.