What to do with: Feijoas

Tips and ideas for using this Kiwi favourite.

The low-down

We often think of feijoas as our own, but the feijoa is actually a native of South America. Named after Brazilian botanist Joam da Silva Feijo, the feijoa was introduced to New Zealand in the 1920s. They are grown in other countries – in California they’re known as ‘pineapple guava’ – but growers in New Zealand have developed their popularity both here and overseas.

In season

The unique taste of feijoas helps to soften the blow of the end of summer as they are usually available from March to June.

You can’t tell by looking at a feijoa whether or not it’s ripe. Fortunately, if you have a tree the fruit will drop when ripe, taking the guesswork out of it. When buying feijoas, look for fruit that feel firm but have a little give with a gentle squeeze. Feijoas can bruise easily so handle them  gently, as you would a ripe peach.

Once you’ve opened a feijoa, you can see it’s ripe when the jelly-like centre is clear; the flesh nearer the skin remains more opaque. A white centre is under-ripe – this will taste quite sharp – and a brown centre is over-ripe.

Storage

If you’ve bought fruit that are not quite ripe, just leave them at room temperature and they’ll ripen in a day or two; speed up the process by putting them in a paper bag with an apple if you need to. Ripe feijoas are best stored in the fridge.

For your health

Like most fruit, feijoas are low in kilojoules. They add vitamin C, various minerals and fibre to our diets.

Research scientists are investigating the antioxidant and anti-cancer properties of extracts from feijoas; these are attributed to the specific flavones feijoas contain along with the vitamin C. But while this all looks quite promising from a scientists’ point of view, we suggest eating a wide range of different coloured fruits and vegetables is the easiest way to ensure you’re getting lots of health-enhancing nutrients and phytochemicals.

Ideas for using feijoas

Feijoas are incredibly versatile: use them in muffins, loaves, desserts, cakes, jams, chutneys, sorbets, smoothies… you name it! Ginger and pineapple are both great with fejoas, so try combos like feijoa and ginger bran muffins or feijoa and pineapple sorbet. Here are some more ideas:

• Eat them just as they are, straight from the skin with a spoon. Look for pale-coloured, soft-textured centres.
• Add chopped feijoas to salads. Not only a taste sensation, the vitamin C will enhance your absorption of iron from cereals and plant foods in the meal.
• Use in a fresh salsa: try chopped celery, tomatoes, red onion, avocado and feijoa. Add chilli flakes, mint, coriander and a generous squeeze of lemon.
• Use your favourite banana cake recipe to make banana and feijoa cake – or feijoa and ginger cake.
• Scoop out the centres and pack into plastic bags with a squeeze of lemon juice, and freeze for later baking.
• Add to apple for a delicious pie filling.
• Use in muffins with other fruit. They go very well with apple and almonds.
• Poach in a little sugar syrup with a knob of ginger.
• Spoon over cereal with yoghurt.
• Add to juices and smoothies – try banana, feijoas, vanilla yoghurt and honey.
• Mix into fruit salad with fresh and canned fruit. Especially nice with pineapple.
• Make a feijoa crumble: top fruit with a mix of rolled oats, sliced almonds, brown sugar and coconut flakes. Or try our Feijoa crumble recipe.
• Purée in a blender with lemon juice, vanilla and a little sugar. Use in baking instead of half the sugar.