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Pregnant women need
a healthy diet, and it can include plenty of healthy Hass
Avocados.
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 AVOCADOS
(Monday, April 11): This week is Women’s Nutrition Week.
More and more studies are being published about the link between
diet and a healthy body. And for women who are pregnant, the issue
is even more important. First of all, make sure you consult your
doctor with any nutrition or diet questions. Eating well is particularly
vital if you are planning or expecting a baby. This will help get
your baby off to a flying start - and also ensure your own good
health. A good balanced diet right from the beginning will help
to ensure correct formation of organs such as the brain, nervous
system and heart. What you eat also influences the size of the placenta
and the composition of your blood supply, which will supply oxygen
and nourishment to the baby. It’s never too soon for a woman
to start preparing for pregnancy, but even if the pregnancy is unplanned
a good diet and healthy lifestyle will be beneficial. Your body
has some very specific needs, not just for you, but for baby. Fruit
and vegetables are important sources of vitamins C and vitamin E
and of beta-carotene. Extra vitamin C is needed during pregnancy
to help the baby's tissue formation. It is essential to have a daily
supply of both vitamin C and folic acid during pregnancy as neither
of these vitamins are stored in the body. So we’re going to
start with Avocados.
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If you are patient,
your
Hass Avocado will make the perfect Guacamole.
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The “Butter
Fruit” that grows on a tree. |
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| The very first Hass Avocado
tree once stood at the home formerly owned by Rudolph Hass in
La Habra, California. The tree fell to disease in November,
2003. |
| Annual Avocado Availability
Chart |
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New studies are showing that Avocados are actually very healthy,
not just a fruit full of fat. The Hass avocado is by far the best
tasting avocado in the world, because of its high oil content. Other
varieties may have oil content around 15%, but the Hass, during
this time of year, the peak of the season, will have over 30% oil.
Oil means flavor. Oil, however, does not mean fat. Many people think
of Avocado, they think fat. The only thing the avocado is fat in…is
in nutrition!
The Avocado has 60% more potassium than even a banana. It’s
absolutely loaded with Vitamin E. For pregnant women, or women wanting
to get pregnant, you have got to look at the Avocado as a very tasty
prenatal pill for Folate. There is more Folate
in an Avocado than any other fruit or vegetable, and Folate is known
to help reduce birth defects. Folic acid is the best-known vitamin
in connection with pregnancy. One of the B group vitamins, it is
important for the formation of the unborn baby's spinal cord and
can therefore help reduce the risk of spina bifida. It is particularly
important to have enough folic acid during early pregnancy so, if
possible, the advice is to start taking a folic acid supplement
before getting pregnant. Avocados have one of the highest levels
of folic acid, important in helping to reduce the risk to birth
defects. The Avocado is also loaded with powerful anti-oxidants
that help reduce your risk to many types of cancer. And the fat
you are so scared of, it’s actually monosaturated fat. That’s
the fat that helps lower your bad cholesterol and raise your good
cholesterol. The fat in California avocados is the same type found
in olive oil, which studies have shown lowers blood cholesterol.
It’s the “good fat.” In fact, actor Mel Gibson
thinks the Avocado is the healthiest fruit grown on a tree. He eats
3 – 4 Avocados a day. So, if there is good fat, Avocado is
very good fat. Prices this year have been fairly stable, better
than the past few years. And it’s not because California growers
have a huge crop. In fact, this year’s crop is about the same
size as last year’s crop. The difference this year is that
Mexican fruit is being allowed into more states and for a longer
period of time. For the past few years, fresh Mexican Avocados were
allowed only into 19 northeastern states during the cold winter
months, from November 1 through the end of February. Then, the USDA
allowed Mexican Avocados to enter 32 states as far west as Colorado,
and the fruit is being allowed into US markets until April 15, an
additional six weeks. This year, after a 90 ban, Mexican Avocados
are now allowed into 47 states. Mexican Avocados are still banned
California, Florida and Hawaii, until 2007, when the fruit will
then be allowed into all 50 states. California grows about 95% of
all the Avocados grown in the United States. Florida grows the rest.
California growers have fought for years to keep fresh Mexican fruit
out of the United States, claiming that a pest infestation from
Mexico could do considerable damage to California’s export
business, not just with Avocados but with many other commodities.
The history of the Avocado dates back to ancient Aztec and Mayan
Indians. The Aztec, Inca and Mayan Indians of Central and South
America were the first to cultivate this fruit. The first mention
of the fruit came in 1519 when the Spanish Conquistadors were in
Mexico City. They wrote of this “butter fruit that grows on
trees.” The first planting of Avocados in the United States
was in Florida. California began growing some around the 1900s,
but in 1913, the great California freeze hit and literally destroyed
every experimental avocado tree that was growing, except one variety.
That variety was renamed “Fuerte,” which is Spanish
for “strong.” Up until the 1980s, the Fuerte accounted
for about half of all the avocados grown in California. In the 1920s,
a postman with the US Post Office in La Habre, California, purchased
three avocado trees. His two sons both agreed that one of those
trees produced the best avocado they had ever eaten. Rudolph began
propagating this one tree, which now accounts for about 92% of all
the avocados grown in California. By the way, Rudolph’s last
name was “Hass,” pronounced as in “pass.”
By the way, that one “mother” Hass tree became the mother
to virtually every Hass tree in the world today. Avocados can turn
just about any salad into an entrée salad. One of the hottest
ways to serve Avocados is grilled. It adds a great dimension to
your menu. Proper storage is vital with Avocados. The less oil content,
the more susceptible to chill damage, which turns the inside fruit
black. As oil content improves, chill damage becomes minimal. The
longer you keep your Avocados cold, the more likely they can spoil.
Keep unripe fruit in your backroom, and covered. Fully ripened fruit
can be stored in your refrigerator for several days. These new crop
California Hass Avocados will take a bit longer to ripen because
they have less oil content. As oil content increases during the
growing season, ripening time will decrease. Be patient with these
early avocados. They need to be ripened before you use them. To
ripen a Hass Avocado, place your green Avocados in a brown paper
bag. If you leave them exposed in the open air, they may just dehydrate
before they ripen, so it is always best to enclose them. Roll up
the paper bag and set out on the counter. Early in the season, it
can take up to a week for them to ripen. To speed up the ripening
process, you can place a ripe banana or an apple into the bag. These
fruits will put off ethylene gas, a natural ripening gas put off
by all fruits that ripen. This ethylene gas will help trigger the
ripening in the Hass Avocado.
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| Fennel at its best.
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Fennel is grown from
a root crown. The bulb and fern are above ground. |
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| Use a sharp vegetable
peeler to shave off slices of Fennel for salads
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A Fennel Salad is
very refreshing. |
FENNEL (Tuesday, April 12): It is one of the plants,
which is said to be disliked by fleas. In fact, in old English days,
this vegetable would be grown around kennels and stables, driving
fleas away. Finocchio or Florence fennel, called "anise,"
is marketed in supermarkets throughout much of the U.S. While many
varieties of fennel are grown for the aromatic seed and foliage,
finnochio fennel is a special type produced for its enlarged bulb
(thickened leaf bases). This vegetable is very popular in Europe,
where the bulbs are either consumed raw or prepared by baking, blanching,
or boiling. The bulbs are sold as "anise" in the U.S.
because of the strong "licorice" or "anise"
aroma, but should not be confused with true anise, a seed spice
also with a strong licorice aroma. Fennel is one of our oldest cultivated
plants and was much valued by the Romans. "So gladiators fierce
and rude/ mingled it with their daily food. And he who battled and
subdued/ a wreath of fennel wore (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). It
was also one of the nine herbs held sacred by the Anglo-Saxons for
its power against evil. Charlemagne declared in 812 A.D., that fennel,
with healing properties also to its credit, was essential in every
imperial garden. Fennel was well known to the Ancients and was cultivated
by the ancient Romans for its aromatic fruits and succulent, edible
shoots. Pliny had much faith in its medicinal properties, according
no less than twenty-two remedies to it, observing also that serpents
eat it 'when they cast their old skins, and they sharpen their sight
with the juice by rubbing against the plant.' In mediaeval times,
Fennel was employed, together with St. John's Wort and other herbs,
as a preventative of witchcraft and other evil influences, being
hung over doors on Midsummer's Eve to warn off evil spirits. It
was likewise eaten as a condiment to the salt fish so much consumed
by our forefathers during Lent. Like several other umbelliferae,
it is carminative. Though the Romans valued the young shoots as
a vegetable, it is not certain whether it was cultivated in northern
Europe at that time, but it is frequently mentioned in Anglo-Saxon
cookery and medical recipes prior to the Norman Conquest. Fennel
shoots, Fennel water and Fennel seed are all mentioned in an ancient
record of Spanish agriculture dating A.D. 961. The diffusion of
the plant in Central Europe was stimulated by Charlemagne, who enjoined
its cultivation on the imperial farms. Fennel is a beautiful plant.
It has a thick, perennial white root-stock, stout stems, 4 to 5
feet or more in height, erect and cylindrical, bright green and
so smooth as to seem polished, with many branches bearing leaves
cut into the very finest of segments. In the old English kitchen
gardens, this naturally ornamental, graceful plant, generally has
its stems cut down to secure a constant crop of green leaves for
flavoring and garnishing, so that the plant is seldom seen in the
same perfection as in the wild state. There are several varieties
of Fennel fruit known in commerce - sweet or Roman Fennel, German
or Saxon Fennel, wild or bitter Fennel, Galician Russian and Roumanian
Fennel, Indian, Persian and Japanese. In Italy and France, the tender
leaves are often used for garnishes and to add flavor to salads,
and are also added, finely chopped, to sauces served with puddings.
Roman bakers are said to put the herb under their loaves in the
oven to make the bread taste agreeably. The tender stems are employed
in soups in Italy, though are more frequently eaten raw as a salad.
John Evelyn, in his Acetaria (1680), held that the peeled stalks,
soft and white, of the cultivated garden Fennel, when dressed like
celery exercised a pleasant action conducive to sleep. The Italians
eat these peeled stems, which they call 'Cartucci' as a salad, cutting
them when the plant is about to bloom and serving with a dressing
of vinegar and pepper. Formerly poor people used to eat Fennel to
satisfy the cravings of hunger on fast days and make unsavory food
palatable; it was also used in large quantities in the households
of the rich, as may be seen by the record in the accounts of King
Edward I. The king’s household would purchase, 8 1/2 lb. of
Fennel…every month. The peasants, however, also liked Fennel.
In fact, it was written that Fennel “is eaten like celery.
It is not uncommon to come upon peasants carrying their bunch of
fennel under the arm and, with some bread, making their lunch or
dinner of it.” Later this week, we’ll look at another
vegetable that Thomas Jefferson got America to love. But he also
loved Fennel in his garden at Monticello. In his Garden Book, Jefferson
wrote, "The fennel is beyond every other vegetable, delicious.
It greatly resembles in appearance the largest size celery, perfectly
white, and there is no vegetable equals it in flavor. It is eaten
at dessert, crude, and with, or without dry salt, indeed I preferred
it to every other vegetable, or to any fruit." Fennel is a
beautiful and versatile vegetable with tall, feathery leaves growing
out of a white, round bulb. A Mediterranean native, fennel was enjoyed
by the Greeks, who used the stalks and leaves for flavoring, and
the Romans, who ate it in salads and also used the seeds. The Romans
cultivated it for medicinal purposes. Today many eat the seeds or
the stalks to help digestion. Fennel, mistakenly called sweet anise,
is a favorite in Italian kitchens, where it is known as finocchio
or Florence fennel. In Italy, fennel appears raw and cooked, in
salads, appetizers, soups and stews. Today's cooks love to add fennel
to salads, to grill, broil or braise and to mix with other vegetables
(fennel puree in mashed potatoes). The leaves look a little like
dill and make a great garnish. They also make a great flavoring
herb, adding just a hint of anise/licorice flavor. The bulb, which
has concentric layers much like an onion, can be sliced, quartered
or halved. When cooked, the bulb becomes milder in flavor and just
a little sweet. In picking out the best Fennel, look for bright,
fresh green tops and firm, pearly white bulbs with no browning or
cracks. Wrap fennel head in plastic wrap or put in plastic bag and
keep in the crisper section of the refrigerator. Some like to separate
the stalks and leaves from the bulb and store in a separate plastic
bag. Fennel will keep several days in the refrigerator. Drop cut
fennel into water with just a little lemon juice added, to prevent
discoloration. Rinse bulb well under cold, clear water. Cut bulbs
lengthwise in half or quarters for braising, grilling or stewing.
To slice for salads or puree, cut out core and use a sharp chef's
knife, slicer or mandoline cutter and cut thin slices crosswise.
Thin-sliced fennel makes a great slaw or salad. The Italians like
to dip thick slices of fennel in extra virgin olive oil, seasoned
with salt and freshly ground pepper - pinzimonio.
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| At Monticello, the
Garden is still maintained, using seeds produced from the
fruits and vegetables that Jefferson grew 200 years ago.
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| A drawing of Jefferson’s
garden terrace, where he grew over 300 varieties of fruits
and vegetables.
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TOMATO (Wednesday, April 13): Thomas Jefferson
was born on this date, 1743. He not only wrote the Declaration of
Independence at age 33, but he also became a U.S. President. Thomas
Jefferson also loved agriculture. It was Thomas Jefferson who convinced
people that eating a Tomato was fine. During his time, most people
considered eating a Tomato was foolhardy. That’s because the
Tomato is part of the deadly Nightshade family. Also, during the
Middle Ages, most of the dishes used were pewter, and when you mix
the acid of the Tomatoes with the pewter, a toxicity occurred, which
made people sick, giving rise that tomatoes were deadly. Jefferson
was determined to prove them wrong. He would walk down the streets
of Washington and Philadelphia, eating a Tomato much like we would
eat an apple. On his farm in Virginia, he grew many crops, and created
many new varieties of fruits and vegetables. Still today, at Monticello,
you can find many of his orchards and crops that he grew over 200
years ago. The vegetable garden evolved over many years, beginning
in 1770 when crops were first cultivated along the contours of the
slope. Terracing was introduced in 1806, and by 1812, gardening
activity was at its peak. The 1,000-foot-long terrace, or garden
plateau, was literally hewed from the side of the mountain with
slave labor, and it was supported by a massive stone wall that stood
over twelve feet in its highest section. Perched atop the wall,
at the half-way point of the garden, is the garden pavilion with
its double-sash windows, Chinese railing, and pyramidal roof. The
pavilion was used by Jefferson as a quiet retreat where he could
read in the evening. It was reputedly blown down in a violent wind
storm in the late 1820's. The pavilion was reconstructed in 1984
based on Jefferson's notes and archaeological excavations. It overlooks
an eight-acre orchard of 300 trees, a vineyard, and Monticello's
berry squares, which are plots of figs, currants, gooseberries,
and raspberries. The main part of the two-acre garden is divided
into twenty-four "squares," or growing plots, and at least
in 1812, the squares were arranged according to which part of the
plant was being harvested -- whether "fruits" (tomatoes,
beans), "roots" (beets, carrots), or "leaves"
(lettuce, cabbage). Jefferson used the Northwest Border to plant
peas very early in the season, and this should have provided a clear
advantage in the annual neighborhood pea contests -- whoever brought
the first English pea to table would host a dinner that included
the winning dish of peas. At the base of the wall, below the garden,
Jefferson successfully grew figs in Submural Beds, which were also
situated to create a uniquely warm setting. The site and situation
of the garden enabled Jefferson to extend the growing season into
the winter months and provided and amenable microclimate for tender
vegetables such as the French artichoke. The garden, as well as
the orchard, was surrounded by a ten-foot-high wooden or "paling"
fence, which ran for nearly three-quarters of a mile. While the
fence was constructed primarily as a defense against domestic animals
and deer, the boards were placed "so near as not to let even
a young hare in." Thomas Jefferson was an astute observer of
the natural world. The daily activities of sowing seeds, manuring
asparagus, and harvesting pease between 1809 and 1826 are precisely
recorded in his "Garden Kalendar," a part of his famous
Garden Book. Jefferson was often the detached scientist in the Kalendar
as he recorded that his Hotspur peas were "killed by frost
Oct. 23," or that his yellow squash "came to nothing"
in 1809. He could also record remarkable detail as in 1811 when
he noted of his Asparagus beans that "2/3 pint sow a large
square, rows 2 1/2 feet apart and 1 f. and 18 I. apart in the row,
one half at each distance." For Jefferson, the vegetable garden
was a kind of laboratory where he could experiment with imported
squashes and broccoli from Italy, beans and salsify collected by
the Lewis and Clark expedition, figs from France, and peppers from
Mexico. Although he would grow as many as twenty varieties of bean
and fifteen types of English pea, his use of the scientific method
selectively eliminated inferior types: "I am curious to select
one or two of the best species or variety of every garden vegetable,
and to reject all others from the garden to avoid the dangers of
mixing or degeneracy." Salads were an important part of Jefferson's
diet. He would note the planting of lettuce and radishes every two
weeks through the growing season, grow interesting greens such as
orach, mache, endive, and nasturtiums, and yearly plant sesame in
order to manufacture a palatable salad oil. Although the English
pea is considered his favorite vegetable, he also cherished figs,
asparagus, French artichokes, and such "new" vegetables
as tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, and cauliflower. Jefferson cultivated
more common vegetables such as cucumbers, beans (both "snaps"
for fresh use and "haricots" that were dried), and cabbages.
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| The tempting Passion
Fruit may look strange, but those who love it,
love it with passion. |
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Passion Fruit growing
in New Zealand. |
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Missionaries in
Brazil noticed this pretty flower during Lent and Easter,
so they called it
the Passion Fruit. |
PASSION
FRUIT (Thursday, April 14): There is a fruit named
after the Passion of Christ. The purple Passion Fruit is native
from southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. It
has been stated that the yellow form is of unknown origin, or perhaps
native to the Amazon region of Brazil, or is a hybrid between P.
edulis and P. ligularis. Cytological studies have not borne out
the hybrid theory. In Australia the purple passion fruit was flourishing
and partially naturalized in coastal areas of Queensland before
1900. In Hawaii, seeds of the purple passion fruit, brought from
Australia, were first planted in 1880 and the vine came to be popular
in home gardens. The passion fruit is a native of tropical America
and was noted by the Spanish in Brazil in the 1500's. There are
more than 400 species of which at least 50 or more are edible. The
passion fruit is so named because parts of the flowers resemble
the crucifixion of Christ, not due to any aphrodisiac capabilities.
Early Spanish missionaries saw the passion flower during Lent and
Easter. They named it in honor of the passion of Christ. When these
first Christian missionaries landed in South America in the sixteenth
century, this plant seemed to be a very good omen for the success
of their mission. This passion flower was used to teach the people
about the death of Christ. The five sepals and five petals of the
flower, which are similar in appearance, represent the disciples
without Peter and Judas. The double row of colored filaments, known
as the corona, signifies to some the halo around Christ's head and
to others the crown of thorns. The five stamens and the three spreading
styles with their flattened heads symbolize the wounds and the nails
respectively. The tendrils resemble the whips used to scourge Christ
and the lobed leaves look similar to the clutching hands of the
soldiers. The two main commercial varieties are Passiflora edulis
L. a purple fruit and P. edulis f. flavicarpa a yellow variety.
Australia is the largest single market for passion fruit and the
bulk is used for blending with other juices and in soft drinks.
Native to Brazil, passion fruit is the edible fruit of the passion
flower. A tropical plant native to Brazil it is also grown in California,
Hawaii, Florida, and Australia. The most common variety has an egg
shape. It has a deep-purple skin and a soft, golden flesh generously
punctuated with tiny, edible black seeds. The flavor is sweet and
tart. The fruit is small and round, the size of a large egg, with
wrinkled, red, yellow, or purple-brown skin, yellow flesh and many
small black edible seeds. The pulp has an intense aromatic flavor,
while the texture is jelly-like and watery. The flavor is likened
to a guava. The purple Passion Fruit is native from southern Brazil
through Paraguay to northern Argentina. It has been stated that
the yellow form is of unknown origin, or perhaps native to the Amazon
region of Brazil, or is a hybrid between P. edulis and P. ligularis
(q.v.). Cytological studies have not borne out the hybrid theory.
Speculation as to Australian origin arose through the introduction
of seeds from that country into Hawaii and the mainland United States
by E.N. Reasoner in 1923. Seeds of a yellow-fruited form were sent
from Argentina to the United States Department of Agriculture in
1915 (S.P.I. No. 40852) with the explanation that the vine was grown
at the Guemes Agricultural Experiment Station from seeds taken from
fruits purchased in Covent Garden, London. Some now think the yellow
is a chance mutant that occurred in Australia. However, E.P. Killip,
in 1938, described P. edulis in its natural range as having purple
or yellow fruits. Brazil has long had a well-established Passion
Fruit industry with large-scale juice extraction plants. The purple
Passion Fruit is there preferred for consuming fresh; the yellow
for juice processing and the making of preserves. In Australia,
the purple Passion Fruit was flourishing and partially naturalized
in coastal areas of Queensland before 1900. Its cultivation, especially
on abandoned banana plantations, attained great importance and the
crop was considered relatively disease-free and easily managed.
Then, about 1943, a widespread invasion of Fusarium wilt killed
the vines and forced the undertaking of research to find fungus-resistant
substitutes. It was discovered that the neglected yellow Passion
Fruit is both wilt-and nematode-resistant and does not sucker from
the roots. It was adopted as a rootstock and plants propagated by
grafting were soon made available to planters in Queensland and
northern New South Wales. The Australian taste is strongly prejudiced
in favor of the purple Passion Fruit and growers have been reluctant
to relinquish it altogether. Only in the last few decades have they
begun to adopt hybrids of the purple and yellow which have shown
some ability to withstand the serious virus disease called "woodiness".
New Zealand, in the early 1930's, had a small but thriving purple
Passion Fruit industry in Auckland Province but in a few years the
disease-susceptibility of this type brought about its decline. Good
local marketing and export prospects have brought about a revival
of efforts to control infestations and increase acreage, mostly
in the Bay of Plenty region. Today, fruits and juice are exported.
A profitable purple Passion Fruit industry has developed also in
New Guinea. Today, New Zealand is still a main supplier of fresh
Passion Fruit to the United States. Domestically, Passion Fruit
is grown just south of Santa Barbara, California. “How about
a nice Hawaiian Punch?” Remember that television ad line from
the 1960s? Then that tropically dressed little guy would punch the
unsuspecting person and dance off singing, “Fruit juicy, fruit
juicy, Hawaiian Punch. Wasn’t that a refreshing commercial?”
The punch in Hawaiian Punch…is the Passion Fruit.
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| It started with
a professor in Hawaii trying to figure out what to do with
5 acres of Passion Fruit. It ended with this little guy asking,
“Heh, how about a nice Hawaiian Punch?” |
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| Berries with Passion
Fruit Sauce. |
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| How do you know
when Passion Fruit is ripe and ready? It’s real simple:
When it’s wrinkled, it’s ripe. |
In Hawaii, seeds of the purple Passion Fruit, brought from Australia,
were first planted in 1880 and the vine came to be popular in home
gardens. It quickly became naturalized in the lower forests and,
by 1930, could be found wild on all the islands of the Hawaiian
chain. In the 1940's, a Mr. Haley attempted to market canned Passion
Fruit juice in a small way but the product was unsatisfactory and
his effort was terminated by World War II. A processor on Kauai
produced a concentrate in glass jars and this project, though small,
proved successful. In 1951, when Hawaiian Passion Fruit plantings
totaled less than 5 acres, the University of Hawaii chose this fruit
as the most promising crop for development and undertook to create
an industry based on quick-frozen Passion Fruit juice concentrate.
From among Mr. Haley's vines, choice strains of yellow Passion Fruit
were selected. These gave four times the yield of the purple Passion
Fruit and had a higher juice content. By 1958, 1,200 acres (486
ha) were devoted to yellow Passion Fruit production and the industry
was firmly established on a satisfactory economic level. Hawaiian
Punch was born. An egg-shaped tropical fruit that is also called
a purple granadilla, the passion fruit has a brittle, wrinkled purple-brown
rind enclosing flesh-covered seeds, something like a pomegranate
(granadilla means "little pomegranate" in Spanish). The
seeds are edible so you can eat the orange pulp straight from the
shell. Passion fruit is more commonly sieved and its highly aromatic
pulp and juice are used as a flavoring for beverages and sauces.
Native to Brazil, passion fruits are grown in Hawaii, Florida, and
California. These crops, along with imports from New Zealand, keep
passion fruit on the market all year. Choose large, heavy fruits.
If the skin is not deeply wrinkled, keep the fruit at room temperature
until it is; the leathery rind, however, will not soften much. Ripe
passion fruit can be refrigerated for a few days. Passion fruit
juice is a good source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and carotenoids
(vitamin A). One passion fruit has 16 calories. It is rich-flavored
and strongly, but pleasantly aromatic. The undiluted juice is highly
concentrated but is an excellent additive to other fruit juices,
or it may be drunk as an ade if water and sugar are added. The juice
makes an excellent jelly, pie filling or cake frosting. Seeds with
the surrounding juice sacs are often added to fruit salads in Australia.
Fruit of the purple passion fruit (sweeter and less acid than the
yellow) may be eaten by itself, seeds and all. Juice of the giant
granadilla has a milder flavor than that of the others and is used
in confections or drinks. Its melon like, edible flesh also can
be pulverized and used in pies. Passion fruit is ripe when skin
is old-looking; mold does not affect quality and can be wiped off.
Choose large, heavy, firm fruit with a deep-purple color. Passion
Fruit is ripe and at its most flavorful when the skin is old and
blistered. If there is a little mold on the outside just wipe it
off. Store fruit in the refrigerator up to 5 days. The fruit is
of easy preparation. One needs only cut it in half lengthwise and
scoop out the seedy pulp with a spoon. Cut fruit in half and scoop
out pulp with a spoon. Spoon the pulp over ice cream or other soft
fruits. The pulp makes a delicious jam or jelly and the seeds add
a unique crunchy texture. To remove seeds: Strain in a non-aluminum
sieve, or use cheesecloth, squeezing to extract the juice. For home
use, Australians do not trouble to remove the seeds but eat the
pulp with cream and sugar or use it in fruit salads or in beverages,
seeds and all. Elsewhere it is usually squeezed through two thicknesses
of cheesecloth or pressed through a strainer to remove the seeds.
Mechanical extractors are, of course, used industrially. The resulting
rich juice, which has been called a natural concentrate, can be
sweetened and diluted with water or other juices (especially orange
or pineapple), to make cold drinks. In South Africa, Passion Fruit
juice is blended with milk and an alginate; in Australia the pulp
is added to yogurt. After primary juice extraction, some processors
employ an enzymatic process to obtain supplementary "secondary"
juice from the double juice sacs surrounding each seed. The high
starch content of the juice gives it exceptional viscosity. To produce
a free flowing concentrate, it is desirable to remove the starch
by centrifugal separation in the processing operation. Passion Fruit
juice can be boiled down to a syrup which is used in making sauce,
gelatin desserts, candy, ice cream, sherbet, cake icing, cake filling,
meringue or chiffon pie, cold fruit soup, or in cocktails. The seeded
pulp is made into jelly or is combined with pineapple or tomato
in making jam. The flavor of Passion Fruit juice is impaired by
heat preservation unless it is done by agitated or "spin"
pasteurization in the can. The frozen juice can be kept without
deterioration for 1 year at 0º F (-17.78º C) and is a
very appealing product. The juice can also be "vacuum-puff"
dried or freeze-dried. Swiss processors have marketed a Passion
Fruit-based soft drink called "Passaia" for a number of
years in Western Europe. Costa Rica produces a wine sold as "Parchita
Seco."
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Kiwano: Looks like
something you’d see on Star Trek. |
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| Kiwano grows on
a vine like a cucumber. It’s leaves look like Watermelon
leaves. The fruit looks like spiked fat cucumbers. |
KIWANO (Friday, April 15): Kiwano, African horned
cucumber, African horned melon, English tomato, Hedged gourd, Horned
melon, Jelly melon. It’s known by many names. But when you
first see it in the produce department, you’ll think Star
Trek’s Capt. Kirk brought something back from a Romulan planet.
It sits there, almost smirking at you, daring you to touch it, pick
it up. It’s spiked. The horned cucumber plant is a vine 5-10
feet long of African origin, in the semiarid regions of southern
and central Africa (Kalahari desert), mainly Botswana, South Africa,
Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Nigeria. It was introduced to Australia
70 years ago and became a weed there, and then taken to New Zealand,
where most of today’s supplies are grown. The small, deeply
cut, five-lobed leaves are similar to those of the watermelon. The
fruits have an oblong shape, are 2 to 4 inches long, light-green
until maturity and have distinctive, long, sharp spines on their
exterior. The name "Kiwano" is a registered trademark
of Prinut Inc., which imports the horned melon from New Zealand.
It's been grown in New Zealand since the 1980's. The spiny fruits
have a bland citrus or banana-like flavor. They are difficult to
use because of the seeds. The fruit pulp can be strained to make
a juice. The fruit shell turns bright orange when it is ripe. The
ripe interior has a lime green jelly-like flesh with large seeds.
Currently, It's mostly used as decoration. The fruit forms in clusters
with the fruit closest to the plant center maturing first. They
have to be cut from the vine, gloves should be worn, and care taken
not to puncture a neighboring fruit with the spines. Consequently
harvesting and packing are time and labor intensive. They make for
a very unique presentation when used as a shell, containing another
recipe. The flavor is described as bland, but the flesh, with the
seeds removed, can be added to makes a sauce or drinks. The chefs
that I know use the fruit primarily for decoration, then as a “bowl”
for something else, like cut melons and yogurt. Never in a million
years should you refrigerate your Kiwano. Remember, it comes from
Africa. It likes the heat. It loves heat. It hates cold, like the
cold in your refrigerator. Store it in a cool, dark place.
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