Devoe: crop

I should have kept a closer eye on the Devoe cordon too, the largest fruit has been ready to pick for a few days, a couple had already fallen and wasps were beginning to attack the fruit as the skins are quite thin. I think I should have picked them earlier.

I decided to cook the damaged ones, rather than waste them. They weren't great. The texture was a bit rubbery, similar to under-ripe conference, and they don't have enough acidity in comparison with the best culinary varieties.

I tried a couple of the others; they were both floury and going brown in the middle. I think this is one of those varieties that need to be picked before they are ripe and part easily from the stem, like Concorde.

The skins of the reddest ones were quite tough and papery, and there was quite a thick 'string' at the core.