fresh from the market... feijoas

feijoas, lime and ginger, ready to be blended together for a fresh breakfast juice.

I don't come into contact with feijoas very often, so recently, when a pack of 5 organic feijoas beckoned to me at South Melbourne Market for the relatively affordable price of $3, I wasn't about to turn them down.

Feijoas, also known as pineapple guavas or guavasteens, are a fairly new addition to my life as an Australian resident. A few trips to New Zealand further cemented the presence of this rather unique fruit in my mind - fresh feijoas are ubiquitous there, and the New Zealanders use them keenly in a variety of applications - jam, candy, and even vodka.

However, this is the first time I've ever bought feijoas for myself. The very first thing that seduced me was their intriguing fragrance, which, to me, is a sweet whirlwind of strawberry, guava and mint - intoxicating, addictive and almost reminiscent of a scented candle. I had to wait a few days for my feijoas to fully ripen at room temperature in their brown paper bag, and during this time I would often gather them close to breathe in that pretty scent.

feijoas, sliced in half vertically. sweet, fragrant and ready to be eaten with a spoon.

When the feijoas finally yielded gently to my touch, signalling that they ready to be eaten, I sliced some of them in half, and simply scooped out the flesh with a spoon. I found the texture of ripe feijoas to be quite soft and creamy, but at the same time, it also had a hint of grittiness. The taste was, again, complex and fascinating. It was like the Fruit Gods got together one day to decide what a feijoa should taste like, and the following conversation ensued:

"They're related to guava, so I reckon they should taste like guava."

"You know what, I love the fresh taste of mint. Can we incorporate that somehow?"

"My dear compatriots, let's not forget about acidity. Something like pineapple and strawberry would be nice, yeah?"

"Oh, oh, how about soursop?"

The Fruit Gods are a quirky bunch indeed.

You can also peel feijoas if you like - I did this to the remaining feijoas, which I then popped into the blender along with some fresh ginger and lime for a quick and exotic breakfast juice. It was all gone in no time. I'm definitely going to purchase feijoas more often from now on, and experiment with them further to create some feijoa recipes.

What are your thoughts on feijoas?