Feijoa and Experimental Recipe

 FEIJOA AND EXPERIMENTAL RECIPE

Feijoa Cheese 

Perad in Goan recipe

Goiabada in Brazilian recipe

 

1.     Background

I started a conversation recently taking out a picture of this flower in spring

 

It is a plant about 3-4 metres tall. It is called Feijoa. It comes from South America but grows well in New Zealand. It grows in the Eastern States (Australia) but was introduced only in the last seven years to Western Australia. It is a small oval shaped fruit, and it tastes between an apple and a guava and
some say it is between aa pineapple and guava. I get about 4-5kilos of it each year from my tree. 

My School friend from Zanzibar, Jo Birkmeyer now resident in Chicago solved my mystery (she is a biologist and knows a lot about plants).  First, she got me the right spelling (I originally spelt it as Feguiabut couldn’t find anything by that name). The correct spelling is Feijoa and these are the photos from Google. You can apparently buy the plant through Amazon.

 

So I made a jar of jam with it last summer. It spreads quite well on to a toast.

 

Second, Jo struck on a better idea. She says why not make a Feijoa Cheese similar to  Guava Cheese (Perad in Konkani) and here is the recipe from some Indian American cook Guava Cheese Recipe with Raw Guavas - Goan Perad – Babs Projects 

 

She was joined in my conversation with another dear friend from my university days at Makerere University, Kampala. Pam lived in Brazil. She said “Guavas are rather expensive in my neck of the woods! (she now lives in Las Vegas) Friends from Brazil bring us canned Goiabada, which is similar to Perad, but denser. Brazilians often like to eat it with a soft cheese and call it Romeo and Juliet!  It’s delicious! (How Romantic!)

There’s also an option to buy Goiabada laced with cashew nuts. “

 

So next summer I will experiment with making a Feijoa Cheese - of course Aussie style. Who knows I might again become a romantic and look for a Sheila!

 

2.     The Recipe

Sorry you will have to wait for my summer in January- February 2023. I will then complete this section. 

 

Adolph de Sousa