Ingredients
Fruit
- ripe feijoas
Equipment
- a teaspoon
Directions
- Wait for them to fall. Feijoas are picked up off the ground rather than picked from the tree, because they drop when they are ripe and not before.
- A fruit picked early will never ripen properly, and that is the single most important thing to know about them.
- Test one by squeezing gently. A ripe feijoa gives slightly, like a ripe avocado, and smells strongly and sweetly at the stem end.
- Cut it in half across the middle rather than lengthways.
- Look at the flesh. The jelly-like centre should be clear and translucent, and if it has gone brown the fruit is past it and should be thrown away.
- Scoop the flesh out with a teaspoon straight from the skin, which is how essentially everyone in New Zealand eats them.
- Do not eat the skin. It is edible but bitter and astringent, and the whole point is the perfumed jelly in the middle.
- Eat them within a few days. They go from underripe to over in about a week and they do not keep.
- In an autumn glut, scoop the flesh out and freeze it in bags, which is what most households do when the tree produces more than anyone can get through.
- The surplus is a genuine social phenomenon: supermarket bins fill up and neighbours leave bags of them in each other’s letterboxes.
- It is a South American fruit that took to New Zealand gardens completely, and it tastes somewhere between pineapple, guava and quince.
Technique
- The season is short, roughly March to June, and it is over quickly.
- The flavour is intensely aromatic and divides people almost as sharply as durian does, though far less dramatically.
- Frozen pulp keeps a year and is what most of the crop becomes.
Substitutions
- Frozen feijoa pulp, sold in New Zealand supermarkets.
- Guava, which is the nearest relative in flavour.
Variations
- Baked into a crumble or a loaf, which is what the glut mostly becomes.
- Made into chutney with onion and ginger.
- Sliced into a gin and tonic, which is a recent and popular habit.
History
A South American fruit that thrives in New Zealand gardens; autumn gluts fill supermarket bins and neighbours’ letterboxes with surplus fruit.
Frequently asked questions
What is Feijoa?
Feijoa is a snack from New Zealand: aromatic green autumn fruit scooped from the skin, tasting of pineapple and guava. A South American fruit that thrives in New Zealand gardens; autumn gluts fill supermarket bins and neighbours’ letterboxes with surplus fruit.
How long does Feijoa take to make?
Feijoa takes 2 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes as many as fall. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Feijoa?
Yes, within limits. Frozen feijoa pulp, sold in New Zealand supermarkets. Guava, which is the nearest relative in flavour.
What is the most important thing to get right in Feijoa?
Wait for them to fall. Feijoas are picked up off the ground rather than picked from the tree, because they drop when they are ripe and not before.
