The Origins of Feijoas (+ Bonus Handmade, Machine Free Ice Cream Recipe)

Fei-a-what?

I know, I had never heard of them either until I set foot on NZ soil. The word itself is not even coming up in my spellcheck! But man, were we blessed with being here in feijoa season!

So what is a feijoa?

Also known as the pineapple guava, guavasteen, or guayabo, the little green guy has a similar origin as the pineapple: cool subtropical and tropical highlands (less than 1000 m) of southern Brazil, Uruguay, western Paraguay, and northern Argentina.Pronounced fe-JO-a, a German botanist named it after Portuguese botanist João da Silva Feijó, born in the then colony of Brazil. 

Which means everyone who knows our history of traveling and living in Latin America is shocked we're not familiar with the fruit. In all of the Latin markets Matt and I have been to, from southern Mexico all the way down to Argentina, in highlands and lowlands, we never once laid eyes on a feijoa, even though I've read they do grow commercially in Chile and Colombia. 

The feijoa needs hot, dry weather to thrive and was introduced to Europe and North America in the 19^th century. It wasn't brought to NZ until the 1920s, yet it's a crop the kiwis must have nailed pretty quickly as NZ is one of the top growers worldwide. Despite their commonality, locals still get excited when the first feijoa hits the ground, usually sometime in early autumn (feijoas aren't harvested off the tree; one must wait for it to take its pretty little time to fall to the ground. Then it's ready to eat).

So. Many. Feijoas.

So what does a feijoa taste like? Well, my first experience was in juice form when we were only days into our journey in NZ and I saw a bottle of cold pressed feijoa juice on sale at the stupidmarket (a common kiwi saying for supermarket. One I quite like, I must say). It was cloyingly sweet, with a gritty texture that reminded me of pear. I was happy I got the small bottle.

HOWEVER. When plucked right off the ground in fresh form, these little oval-shaped egg-sized nuggets of joy are a pleasure to eat. A tad sweet yet a bit sour when they're firm and first fallen, they do get sweeter with time like any fruit, but I dig them on the sour side. They do have a little of that pear-like sandy texture, which is much better when fresh than in a juice. But they also have a flavor that's all it's own that I can't describe. It would be like trying to explain what banana flavor is without saying banana. Know what I mean? (Side note: an internet source says they taste like a mix of pineapple, strawberry and guava if that helps at all… maybe make a smoothie with those three and get the gist? Hmm.)

AND they're so prolific and smallish, you can eat heaps before you get sick of them! The skin is generally not eaten, so one way to eat the delicacy is you can stick your finger in it, rip it in half and scrape your teeth off the inside of the skin while the flesh and juices ooze into your mouth. Or, you can be more dignified and cut it in half and scoop it out with a teaspoon. Can you tell which way I prefer?

Feijoa guts!

What to do when there are so many feijoas and there's no WAY a household of five will eat them before they go off? You can try giving them away, but we literally couldn't get any takers at the Weka Workshop as all of the locals were already chokkers (translation: "chock full" in Aussie- and Kiwi-speak) with them. So you get creative! We had feijoa in our morning yogurt and granola, we had a dessert with stewed feijoas and whipped cream. We heard about feijoa chutney, but we never saw it. And, of course, local breweries also make alcoholic feijoa cider. Aside from fresh, whole feijoas, the best in our opinion was the feijoa ice cream, recipe shown below.

For size comparison.

So the reason most of us non-Kiwis probably don't know of the feijoa is they are rather delicate and bruise easily, like a fig, making them hard to ship internationally. If you're curious, the season in the southern hemisphere runs from late March to June and apparently they grow in California, where the fruit is harvested October to December. If you DO find feijoas, and you don't live in Aotearoa, we would love to hear where you scored your treasure!

Our lovely host Karen shared the following recipe for feijoa ice cream:

• 200g feijoa

• 100-200g sugar (or to taste, depending on ripeness of fruit)

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 300g whipped cream

• 1 egg white

Food process fruit, lemon juice and sugar together until pulpy. Beat fruit mixture with egg white until soft peaks form. Whip cream separately. Fold fruit mixture into whipped cream. Freeze until hard ( a few hours). Enjoy!

Source: https://feijoafeijoa.wordpress.com/facts/