10 things to do with feijoas - The Country News - NZ Herald (2024)

Rotorua Daily Post

By

Alison King

3 mins to read

Feijoa's are not only delicious, they're also extremely versatile. Photo / File

It's feijoa time again and many of us will be looking for new ways to eat the fruit, though eating's not the only use for ubiquitous green delicacy.

1) Stew them. Slice 12 feijoas in half and scoop out the insides. Fill a pot with 2 cups of water and put on to the boil. Add a half cup of sugar (white or brown) and wait for it to dissolve. Add the fruit and simmer for about 10 minutes until fruit has softened. Stewed feijoas can be frozen in small containers or stored in preserving jars. Use in crumbles or serve with cereal.

2) Freeze them. Scoop out the flesh and freeze in whatever quantity you prefer. If you use fresh feijoas in baking freeze in the quantities required for your recipe to make baking a lot easier.

3) Dehydrate them: Skin, slice and dehydrate. Snack on them when out mountain biking or when at work. Visit http://feijoafeijoa.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/feijoa-fruit-leather-roll-ups/ for a recipe.

4) Bottle them. In a large saucepan bring three cups of water and one cup of sugar to the boil. Peel 14-16 feijoas as lightly as possible and place into the hot syrup. Once all the fruit is added, bring to the boil for one minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fruit to sterilised preserving jars. Pour in sufficient syrup to cover the fruit and spill over the top of the jars. Place the inner-seal lids on top and tightly screw on the seal bands immediately. The seal is complete once the inner seal is down and the feijoas can be turned upside-down without any syrup coming out. Once this happens the sealing bands can be removed. Wipe the jars clean with a damp cloth to remove any excess syrup. Store in a cool, dry place away from sunlight.

5) Bake them. Cakes, muffins, loaves. There are many different recipes for bringing feijoas to morning tea. Kiwi cook Allyson Gofton has a number of recipes, including these feijoa and lime muffins at http://www.allysongofton.co.nz/recipe/Feijoa-muffins-with-lime-glaze/. There are so many possibilities that you can get your friends together for a feijoa morning tea and each have something different to share.

6) Make a salsa. You need: Three feijoas, peeled and finely chopped, one onion, peeled and finely chopped, one tablespoon finely-chopped fresh coriander, one tablespoon brown sugar, freshly ground black pepper. Mix all the ingredients together and serve with steak, fish, chicken or potato wedges, or great in rolls with cheese. Make an hour or two ahead for full flavour.

7) Drink them. The Pease Pudding blog is a foodie blog and one of the treats online is this recipe for Feijoa Daquiri. This recipe makes four. You need: Six feijoas (scooped out flesh only), two handfuls of ice cubes, nine parts Bacardi White Rum, three parts Rose's Lime Cordial. Put all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth, serve in a co*cktail glass.

8) Preserve them. There are many feijoa jam recipes around, whether you want to make a quick one using the whole fruit or a gourmet jam using vanilla pods and ginger. But how about making feijoa curd? This recipe uses 500g feijoas, eggs and egg yolks, butter and sugar. Visit http://www.grouprecipes.com/8214/feijoa-curd.html for the full method.

9) Brew it. It's true you can make wine from almost anything, including feijoas. If you are a home winemaker why not try making feijoa wine? http://howto.yellow.co.nz/food-drink/wine-and-beer/how-to-make-feijoa-wine/

10) Curry it. A main dish of feijoa and chicken curry. Visit http://feijoafeijoa.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/feijoa-chicken-curry/ for the full recipe.

10 things to do with feijoas - The Country News - NZ Herald (2024)

FAQs

10 things to do with feijoas - The Country News - NZ Herald? ›

Feijoas are also known as a Pineapple Guava; they are egg-shaped with a soft, succulent flesh similar in texture to a pear with jelly-like edible seeds. This lime green fruit is originally native to South America and is now grown in California and New Zealand.

What are feijoas called in America? ›

Feijoas are also known as a Pineapple Guava; they are egg-shaped with a soft, succulent flesh similar in texture to a pear with jelly-like edible seeds. This lime green fruit is originally native to South America and is now grown in California and New Zealand.

Should feijoas be kept in the fridge? ›

How to store feijoas. Unripe feijoas can be stored for two or three days in a fruit bowl to fully ripen. Ripe feijoas should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to best retain their fragrant flavour. Once cut, the fruit will turn brown through oxidisation - use lemon juice to stop this from happening.

How many feijoas should you eat a day? ›

Including just two feijoas in your diet through the Autumn months provides 64 per cent of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C, which has an important role in increasing immunity.

Do feijoas have a laxative effect? ›

Feijoa exerts digestive and laxative properties and, given its low calorie content, it is considered a valid diet adjuvant [2]. In Brazil and Uruguay, apart from some small crops, the fruits are not cultivated on a commercial scale, although some are harvested from wild or domestic plants.

What is the best way to eat feijoas? ›

Feijoas taste like taking the best elements of strawberry, guava and pineapple and mixing them together. They smell pleasantly sweet and flowery. To eat a feijoa, cut (or rip) it in half and scoop out the inside creamy white flesh (a little brownish color is fine to eat).

Can you freeze feijoas raw? ›

Feijoas freeze brilliantly, either whole or peeled and sliced (if going down this route, freeze the fruit on trays in a single layer before shifting into a freezer bag or other container so it doesn't all stick together in a giant frozen lump).

Do you eat the skin of feijoa? ›

Feijoa tastes a little like a combination of guava and pineapple. The flesh is slightly tangy and grainy. The skin is often removed prior to consumption, but it's edible.

Are feijoas high in sugar? ›

other common fruits such as grapes or guava, in which glucose and fructose are major sugars [37,38], feijoa fruit is similar to strawberry with sucrose as the main sugar component [24]. The contents of sucrose and total sugar in the peel were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than in the whole fruit and pulp (Table 4).

Are feijoas anti-inflammatory? ›

Researchers from the University of Auckland studied the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of 12 fruits, discovering that feijoa and blackberry show the strongest anti-inflammatory response.

Are feijoas a superfood? ›

Feijoa is an exotic fruit with an excellent reputation in the culinary world. Popular in New Zealand, this superfood has powerful health benefits, including weight loss, blood pressure reduction, improved digestion, circulation and cognitive function.

Can you have too many feijoas? ›

We know how hard people are working to get their basic needs met, and every little bit makes a big difference.” “Hunger is very real in our community, but our friends and neighbours step up generously to help each other. There's no such thing as too many courgettes, tomatoes, or feijoas for us.

Can you freeze fresh feijoas? ›

Feijoas freeze brilliantly, either whole or peeled and sliced (if going down this route, freeze the fruit on trays in a single layer before shifting into a freezer bag or other container so it doesn't all stick together in a giant frozen lump).

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