They should be eaten raw, but epicures say they should be allowed to 'blet' [become so over-ripe as to be on the verge of rotting] before they are fit to eat — there is a passage about it from Mercutio in Shax's Romeo&Juliet which is supposed to be very obscene to those who know this, and other Shaxn refs also which will be found in Wiki's entry on Mespilus [the medlar's botanical name]. This entry also gives advice on how to 'blet' [ie achieve the over-ripe] effect in the medlar, and how best to eat it.