Free guide to Milan • June 2003 • Events • Exhibitions

Hello Milano • Year 8 • n° 6 • 1st-30th June 2003 • Iscrizione Tribunale di Milano 185/23.3.96
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Vegetable state
Roberta Salvadori’s column La Borsa della Spesa on the Agricoltura
page of the Corriere della Sera of 25 May 2003 featured nespole, or
medlars, one of my favourite fruits for about the last five years. Before
that, I had no idea what they were. Looking like a cross between plums
(which I hate) and apricots (which I love), they come to market in
about April and are available through to June. With funny black marks
on their orangey skin, they always appeared less than appealing and,
to boot, always seemed to be higher in price that many other, better-
known, fruit. I owe my conversion to a friend who showed me how to
remove the skin and bite carefully into the flesh – there is a big kernel
– and I have been addicted ever since.
My ignorance is perhaps not surprising. The English dictionaries do not
appear to have a much clearer idea of what medlars are about, either.
The Oxford Reference Dictionary tells you that it is a “fruit like a small
apple, eaten when decayed”. Sounds distinctly unappetising. Like, how
decayed? With or without maggots? The Merriam Webster’s Collegiate
provides a little more info, calling “medlar” a word that entered the English
language in the 14th century, to describe “a small Eurasian tree (mespilus
germanica) of the rose family”. But it then goes off the rails by saying
that its “fruit resembles a crab apple and is used in preserves”. I also
consulted my funny old Beyond the Dictionary in Italian by PJT
Glendening, who does not mention medlars at all in his “food” section.
But I get the feeling he was pretty much at sea with Italian comestibles.
Apart from informing the English-speaking world that sugo di pomodoro
is “ketchup”, he claims that spremuta di arancio is “orange squash”.
(For those not acquainted with such horrors, squash is a sort of
chemically-based “drink” given to children in the UK.)
Anyway, to get back to nespole, they really are worth trying. Interestingly,
they have become more attractive in the last few years. This is because,
according to Ms Salvadori, the Italian nespola — which suffers
endemically from a fungus that causes those distinctive blemishes on
the skins – has been replaced almost 100% by a larger, blemish-free
product from Spain, which is now the world’s number one producer.
Attractive they may be, but these nespole – of the Pelouche and Algerine
varieties – are less tasty, complains Ms Salvadori. This is because they
are, of course, picked before they are ripe so that they can be in peak
condition when they complete their journey from Murcia. The Italian
nespole are, of course, still available but mostly sul posto. Which is
the Palermo and in the Trabia areas of Sicily, or in Puglia. Enjoy.
© 2003 Roberta Kedzierski