A cheese made with fruits? It really is, and you’ll certainly see that the flavour of this dish with strange name will perfectly fit Christmas time with its spicy scent!
The medlar cheese comes directly from spicy fruit pastes widespread during the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which were often prepared with quinces and pears and, we could say, are not related to modern quiddany we prepare nowadays. In the seventeenth century they made pastes with other fruits too, such as pippins, apricots, cherries and, of course, medlars. In the past they used the All Spice, a spice with complex scent that embodies the flavours of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger… And of course black pepper too! For our version, we decided to sweeten it up with vanilla beans from Madagascar and orange zest. Your turn to do your experiments! 🙂
With this recipe, therefore, we add a historic dish to our collaboration with the series “Gorchlach: the Legend of Cordelia“, and also for our special medlar series. Go and have a look at the recipes we have already published 🙂 .
To know more about the All Spice, take a look at the bottom of the Banana bread with chocolate chunks 🙂 .
If you try one of the recipes on the blog, take a photo and publish it on Instragam with the hashtag #fratelliaifornelli and tagging our profile @fratelliaifornelli.
Medlar cheese
Ingredients
- medlar well bletted
- sugar
- vanilla
- orange zest
- salt
Instructions
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To begin it is necessary that the medlars are fully bletted and soft. Place about 2 kg into a saucepan and add 750 ml of cold water, without removing any seeds or peel. Then, using a potato masher or a meat mallet, smash the fruits and mix them well with water.
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Let simmer about 20 minutes, so that the pulp comes off completely from the seeds and peel. This step is important, and will avoid having to peel them one by one by hand.
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Once this is done, pour the puree into a large colander, under which you have previously placed a container to collect the pulp. And now, you just have to mix thoroughly a few minutes and all the pulp will separate! 🙂 Not bad, to save time and effort!
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Now, sieve the puree with a clean cheese cloth and squeeze as much as possible, being careful, however, not to burn yourselves. Put aside all the juice that we'll need to prepare a wonderful medlar jelly.
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But let's fo back to our pulp. Weigh it and add half weight in sugar. Mix with a pinch of salt, vanilla and grated organic orange peel.
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Put on the stove and heat until the sugar has dissolved continuing to stir to prevent it from sticking on the bottom.
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Once ready, pour your medlar cheese in molds and let it set.
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Once cold, flip them onto a wire rack, and let them dry until they have lost some more water.
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Keep them in a box in the refrigerator and serve your medlar cheeses sprinkled with powdered sugar and grated orange zest.