Feijoas

We have encountered a new fruit called the feijoa (fi-Jo-a) here in NZ. When we were in Putaruru, our landlady Hilary had told us that her favorite fruit since immigrating to New Zealand was the feijoa and that we would surely have to look for it and give it a try. Always up for something new, we kept a lookout for the fall ripening fruit.

Finally, in Northland we saw them for sale although by the bag only--“hope we like them“, we thought. We bought a bag and asked the fruitstand saleswoman how to eat them. “Oh,” she says, “just cut them in half and scoop out the insides with a spoon!”

The feijoa is related to the guava and looks like an elongated, green egg. The center is jelly-like and seedy while the outer flesh is firm and a little gritty. The odor is very distinctive and somewhat sickly sweet, I think. Obviously, I wasn’t too taken with the fruit. Mark gamely ate much of the bag. Apparently, the fruit bruises very easily and does not store well so is mostly eaten close to home.

Weeks later, at a buffet breakfast in Napier, one of the juices offered was strange looking to us. The restaurant was nearly empty so our server overheard us questioning what it was. Ah, feijoa juice. “Lots of people find it too gritty,” she said. “But I like it, especially mixed with grapefruit juice. It’s a Kiwi thing.” We asked her what else people do with feijoas and it turns out not much. They can be mashed and, like shredded zucchini, added to cake recipes as a moistening ingredient.

When we arrived in Wairoa, Rafik, the vacationing locums, had left us a bowl full of feijoas. We added them to fruit salads, ate a few, and I blenderized them for juice. We had almost managed to get rid of…oops…eat them all, when Mark came home with a bag of several dozen feijoas! Arghhhh! I forgave him when he told me that someone at work had brought in bags and bags of the fruit and another person had quietly suggested he take a bag home even if he planned on tossing them!!

However, Mark did ask the person with the tree what she does with the fruit…besides give it away. “I mash them up, cover them with sugar, add a layer of gin, and let the mixture ferment for 6-8 weeks.” Smiling, she added “Then I take a tablespoon a day for medicinal purposes!” Sadly, we do not enough time to try that recipe!!  Over the weekend, though, Mark hunted online for a recipe that would use more of our feijoas as well as fresh limes that we had been given. Result was “Feijoa Cream” which used 18-20 feijoas (yeah!), 3 T of lime juice, heavy cream, and some brown sugar. Mix and freeze. It was slightly gritty but really yummy :-)