Feijoas & Feijoa Chutney
Social Media posts at this time of year often feature people either desperate to see if anyone has some feijoas to give away, or frantically asking for ideas of what to do with their bumper crop. Local newspapers feature feijoa recipes... we all go feijoa mad. You can buy feijoa flavoured chocolate at the supermarket, and my favourite Port company - Ruahine Ports from near Dannevirke - make a feijoa port that is very tasty (although I do prefer their Plump Pheasant Plum Port).
We have seven trees. Yes, you heard that correctly - SEVEN. Luckily they're not the most well-maintained fruit trees so I don't have an absolute tonne of fruit to deal with. Only a half tonne. 🤣
What can one do with half a tonne of feijoas you might ask. Well, apart from eating them raw you can - amongst other things - make :
- feijoa cake, by making a banana cake recipe but replacing the volume of mashed banana with mashed feijoa (about 3x feijoa per banana)
- as above, but make muffins
- stew the fejoas and bottle ready to have with breakfast or make into feijoa crumble. Adding apple is a nice combination.
- feijoa jam
- feijoa wine (I've never tried this one)
- feijoa chutney
There is even a recipe book dedicated to this humble fruit, currently on it's third edition. (I've mislaid my copy, oh woe! Hopefully it turns up next year.) You can purchase a copy of the book if you click here.
My lovely friend Josie and her husband enjoy feijoa chutney with cheese and crackers. Many, many moons ago I made some chutney and gave it to them and they adored it. Unfortunately I committed the grave sin of NOT WRITING DOWN THE RECIPE! ARGH! Ever since then I've been trying all sorts of versions, some with raisins (that got the thumbs down) and some without. One problem with chutney recipes is that they really need to mature over 6 weeks or more after cooking. So what it tastes like when it's first cooked is not going to be what it's like when opened in 6 weeks or so. In particular the flavours will blend with the vinegar.
So my big cooking tips for today are these: Firstly, always write down your recipe modifications as you do them, and secondly write the date! Then put that date on a sticker on your bottle or jar. That way, you know which version it is that you are taste testing.
Anyway, this is today's batch which seems to be quite tasty:
Feijoa Chutney
So my big cooking tips for today are these: Firstly, always write down your recipe modifications as you do them, and secondly write the date! Then put that date on a sticker on your bottle or jar. That way, you know which version it is that you are taste testing.
Anyway, this is today's batch which seems to be quite tasty:
Feijoa Chutney
1.8 kg feijoa pulp
600 grams finely chopped onion
600 grams peeled and finely chopped apple
600 grams finely chopped onion
600 grams peeled and finely chopped apple
1 ½ Tablespoons crushed garlic
750 grams brown sugar
1 ¼ Tablespoons salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 Tablespoons ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground mace (if you can't find this, use extra nutmeg instead)
750 grams brown sugar
1 ¼ Tablespoons salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 Tablespoons ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground mace (if you can't find this, use extra nutmeg instead)
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 Tablespoons pectin
250 ml red wine vinegar*
250 ml apple cider vinegar*
Note: I use a mixture of red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar because I can't have malt vinegar. (In New Zealand, malt vinegar is not considered gluten-free). So if you're fine with gluten, just used 500 ml of malt vinegar instead.
250 ml apple cider vinegar*
Note: I use a mixture of red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar because I can't have malt vinegar. (In New Zealand, malt vinegar is not considered gluten-free). So if you're fine with gluten, just used 500 ml of malt vinegar instead.
Place everything except the two types of vinegar in a large stock pot and give it a stir.
Leave it sitting for about 20 minutes for the fruit to macerate. This let's the juices come out of the feijoas.
Add the vinegar and mix. It should look like this:
Leave it sitting for about 20 minutes for the fruit to macerate. This let's the juices come out of the feijoas.
Add the vinegar and mix. It should look like this:
Then put the pot on the hob on a medium high heat and bring the mixture to a simmer.
Simmer for 2 ½ hours, stirring relatively frequently so the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. It should reduce and thicken.
As the fruit cooks and softens you'll want to kind of mash the bits of apple and feijoa against the side of the pot to make sure you don't have large lumps.
Ladle into hot jars and seal as you would jam.
Leave the jars unopened for at least 6 - 8 weeks before opening. Once open, keep in the refrigerator.
The recipe makes about 2 ½ litres.
Simmer for 2 ½ hours, stirring relatively frequently so the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. It should reduce and thicken.
As the fruit cooks and softens you'll want to kind of mash the bits of apple and feijoa against the side of the pot to make sure you don't have large lumps.
Ladle into hot jars and seal as you would jam.
Leave the jars unopened for at least 6 - 8 weeks before opening. Once open, keep in the refrigerator.
The recipe makes about 2 ½ litres.
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