Guess what started falling out of our gigantic backyard tree this week?
That's right. Pineapple guavas, aka feijoas.
I had never even heard of pineapple guava before we moved into this house. But! For two years, we've been caretakers to one of the biggest pineapple guava trees in the state of CA. No, seriously--ask our landlord. And now it's October--harvest time--and ripe pineapple guavas are falling off the tree and thumping into our yard all day.
Pineapple guavas are a tropical fruit. You cut them open and scoop out the pinkish-yellow insides. The texture is seedy and gelatinous in the middle and gritty and pear-like as you get closer to the edges. The taste is only sort of like pineapple--it's more heady and floral than anything else.
Last year the harvest completely overwhelmed us. I ate lots of individual pineapple guavas with a spoon. I infused pineapple guava schnapps. I failed spectacularly at dehydrating them, mostly due to an oven that won't run below 170F. Then I brought bags of pineapple guava to all my friends and neighbors, and left a big box on our front curb with a FREE sign. We still had a massive amount left over.
This year? I don't know. What am I going to make?
I'm planning to try a recipe for pineapple guava ice cream that I found on Hungry and Frozen 6 months ago--which makes complete sense, since the New Zealand feijoa harvest is in April. Yay, opposite hemisphere!
This does require that I dig out enough freezer space for our ice cream machine bowl, but I think I can handle that.
It would still be a good idea to make jam. I certainly have the right volume of fruit available--or I will in a week or so. Does anyone have a pineapple guava jam recipe kicking around?
What do you guys make when you get a windfall of exotic fruit?
13 comments:
I have never heard of them before, but I am already very jealous!
Could you try making guava paste? For some reason that rings a bell...
I've never heard of them before either but how great is that to have all that fruit in your own garden! Jam is always a good idea but the ice cream sounds intriguing too. Any chance you could roast them or would that be really wrong..? ;)
Mmm, that ice cream sounds fantastic! I have never heard of these either, but I am intrigued and would LOVE to find one!
looking forward to seeing pineapple guava creations.
Wow! These are amazing. New to me! I always try to bake something when I happen upon an exotic fruit. Thank you so much for sharing.
Pineapple Guava is new to me - sounds delicious!
SO COOL! I've never heard of these before but they sound awesome. Maybe you can try making a pineapple guava curd out of them??
Thanks for all the great ideas! I think jam or cake is probably the best plan. I saw one ginger vanilla jam recipe that sounds great! And maybe I'll try looking for actual Guava guava recipes along with the New Zealand feijoa resources. I just wish I could send some of these off for you guys to try! I really don't think they'll travel well, though. Boo!
CA is so amazing. I can't believe you have feijoas in your back yard. I recommend my favorite NZ cooking magazine for recipes: cuisine.co.nz
These look delicious - and different from your usual supermarket fare!
The schnapps sounds pretty enticing...Have you tried them with cheese? I have a recipe for normal guava in an exotic fruit book- cooked with coconut cream
(6 guava,coconut,coconut milk,egg yolk, cloves,rose water,lemon rind and orange juice).....sounds a bit much!
Yum! Wish I could try your schnapps! How about a fruit butter of some sort? Those seem to cook down much more than a standard jam. Could you use a melon jam recipe? Or how about chopping them and preserving them in a brandy-syrup, and serving over ice cream? I don't know how you can use them all up!
Hello again. Just came across 2 recipes you might like;
http://susan-susancancook.blogspot.it/2011/12/pineapple-and-pineapple-guava-jam.html
http://awakeatthewhisk.com/pineapple-guava-applesauce-recipe/
saw them at punkdomestics
Just made a great apple and guava curry off an online Indian recipe board -- I doubled the recipe and added chicken. Super spicy and flavorful. Getting a super bumper crop this year.
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