All posts tagged: fruit

Try A New Fruit

Published by

On the way to and from Pam Bok Waterfall in Pai, Thailand, there is a farm. Huge cracks in the ground appeared a few years ago (and continue to grow in number) means that the owners can no longer grow as many crops as they used to. With the land deemed worthless and crop production down, this can mean very hard times for a farmer. In a stroke of genius, they have opened up what is left of their farm to the visitors that pass every day to get to the waterfall. After a day of exploring the nearby hot springs, canyon and waterfall by bike, we stopped by the “crack farm” for a refreshing roselle juice. Roselle are a hibiscus flower that look more like rose hip. If you have had hibiscus juice before, it is similar to that, if not, I guess it tastes like a watered-down glass of cranberry juice. As the only visitors there and just one table, you really feel like you are guests in someones home. Our friendly, Thai-speaking …

Make a feijoa preserve

Published by

The first fruit to drop from our feijoa tree went unnoticed by us, but Tofu the bunny sniffed it out and ate half of it before I caught him. Considering Tofu is blind, that is top marks to the  bunny. Tofu loves feijoa and we have to check the backyard daily to clean up all the fallen feijoa or else he will eat more than is good for him. For those outside the loop, feijoa (Pronounced fee-JO-ah) are a guava with a perfumey, tart flavour and a grainy texture similar to pear. The originated in South America and I’m not how they found their way to Auckland, New Zealand, but the feijoa season here is short, intense and adored by many. We count our lucky stars that our rental has a thriving feijoa tree in the backyard. I have fond memories of feijoa season, we would sit around the table, eating feijoa and stacking up the emptied cups as we ate until the towers bent and swayed. In Cantonese, we call them “FEE-jo. To eat a feijoa, …

Hello Autumn, my good friend.

Published by

The first weekend of Autumn is here and it’s certainly starting to chill. That humid, sticky-air feeling is giving way to a bite and the wind is almost unbearable. I haven’t succumbed to wearing a jacket yet, but I had to give into a scarf last night. Denial is fun. Autumn is my favourite season. Autumn in Auckland is usually warm enough still to do things, but not so hot as to need to shower or swim afterwards. I usually relish in Autumn after a long hot summer. We’re just not ready for it yet. I was reluctant to make a to list this season as we’ve got some big events planned which will take me away from my kitchen, but once I got started on my list, I was away. I managed to stop at 10. Probably overly ambitious as usual but I don’t know what I could cull. I’ve yet to complete any of my lists so far, but I’m a dreamer. I don’t need the smug satisfaction of reaching all my goals. Most …

Summer is Peachy

Published by

As we officially set upon the final week of the New Zealand summer, it feels like the climate is stubbornly refusing to let go of the heat. Sometimes I can’t decide if it’s hotter inside than out. Things are sticky. Especially after a hot afternoon nap. We’ve been cheated of summer this year with monsoon rainfall that is common in other exotic islands. So while Autumn will hit us in a couple of weeks, it still feels like mid-summer. Who knows? Maybe we’ll still be picnicking in April. It is peach season and I have no hard feelings for the fuzzy skinned fruit. I can eat it without peeling. But the salsa I made this week is more about flavour than the texture. This salsa tastes zingy and fresh. I haven’t added any chili to it, but you can add a sliced chili if you prefer. Serve with fish, chicken, steak or sausages. Tasty enough to add just a spoon but moorish enough to eat like a side salad. Use a nectarine if that’s all you have handy. Peach Salsa …

Looks like poo, tastes like awesome.

Published by

I did my best to make this look pretty, but there’s no two ways about it, stewed fruit and melted chocolate looks horrible. I made this recipe up based on what I had on hand. No reason why you can’t do the same. By all means, experiment! And eat the evidence. Feijoa  (pronounced fee-jo-ah) can be replaced with berries or stone fruit. Feijoa Custard with Chocolate and Cointreau Makes 2 Ingredients 12 feijoa 1 tablespoon sugar 1 shot of Cointreau 12 chocolate buttons plus 4 extra for garnish 1 cup of custard (chilled) Preparation Cut feijoas in half and scoop fruit out and into a small sauce pan. Add sugar and Cointreau. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stirring with a wooden spoon and breaking up the fruit as you go. When the fruit is all broken down and resembling baby food, drop in 12 chocolate buttons. Give the mixture gentle mix and divide into 2 ramekins. Top with custard and make a butterfly garnish on each dollop of custard using 2 extra chocolate buttons.

We don’t have feijoas coming out our ears.

Published by

Really we don’t. Our tree is giving us a respectable 3 to 6 fruit a day. Totally manageable. This week, I learned that feijoas (pronounced fee-jo-ahs) thrive in our sub tropical climate and also don’t have any natural pests here. Every day, I check the lawn under and gather up any fallen fruit. Although Tofu doesn’t seem to be interested in feijoa this autumn, he could just be trying to trick me into nonchalance. I’ve caught him hoeing into them in other years so I’m not so easily fooled. I’m still squirreling away all the macadamia nuts that are dropping onto our lawn. I haven’t bought a macadamia nut cracker yet so I’m just collecting and collecting. The only way I can get them open right now is using a brick and smashing the nuts on concrete. But it’s not pretty and kind of caveman like to be honest. I hope my neighbours don’t see me smashing bricks and nuts in the backyard…and eating the results. The nuts have a great flavour, but aren’t crunchy. I’ve already …

Eating Borneo #8 – New Years at Mañana

Published by

New Year celebrations have always been epic for us. Many businesses are closed during this time in New Zealand so we holiday like there’s no tomorrow. It’s a time when we leave the city and flock to beaches all over the country to get absolutely trashed with their friends. There’s good food and good times to be had and the celebrations often last a week. I saw in last New Years with The Koala, my friend A, my sister Joey, her boyfriend D and the guests and staff at Mañana Borneo. Mañana is a small resort on a private beach about an hour north of Kota Kinabalu in the Sabah north of Borneo Island. It’s not on a separate island but this beach is only accessable by boat. No cars. No shops. No power during the day. Just a private, sheltered beach, snorkeling, swimming, books, hammocks, monsoon every afternoon (mandatory downtime). It was heaven. We stayed in 3 private villas with our own outdoor bathrooms. The menu here was limited but that was fine, it meant …