Medlar or Loquat

• You may come across a Jerusalem Post article claiming that a shesek is a "cumquat."
• Wrong.
• Shesek, though the same size and shape as kumquats, are not citrus fruits.
• Shesek have smooth skins that, when ripe, are yellow and imperfect. Their seeds are about the size of small apricot pits, but shesek seeds are smooth, slightly concave, and solid as far as I can tell. The fruit is smooth and sweet.
• I have heard people claim that shesek are medlars. Actually they are loquats, so they would have to be "Japanese medlars," which, authoritative sources assure me, are not medlars at all.
• Loquats are delicious. In season, they are very cheap. They do not always make it to the supermarket, possibly because markings on their skin make them look imperfect to people used to industrial fruit.

Copyright 2007 Jane S. Fox