A Very Vine Thing

Posted: 15/03/2010 11:59:03 a.m.

A group of culinary students got together on a project, making food for the elderly, a combination of Viagra and passionfruit that when trialled heightened the libido of these agesters. No wonder my ‘just set passionfruit tart’ with a crisp chard of toffee always sold out on Sunday’s in the restaurant! It is the season, and I have a plentiful fruit crop begging me to pick along with my neighbours vine dangling conveniently down my fence. In fact, my hometown of Kerikeri grew the first commercial crop in 1927 with the news of this beautifully flowering plant being grown in Auckland and Tauranga a few years later. The passionfruit seed originates from South Brazil through Paraguay to Northern Argentina. This intensely scented fruit eventually hit our shores in the nineteenth century when the seed was taken to Hawaii. It is thought to be named by early Spanish travellers who saw a resemblance in the flowers to the crucifixion. This rampant vine starts to bear fruit within the first eighteen months of planting with a cropping life of upto eight years in frost free areas. The fruit is at its sweetest when the shells start to become wrinkly, falling to the ground, the pulps yield maximised inside the shell. They will store refrigerated for upto 2 weeks and the pulp mixed with a little sugar can be frozen in ice cube trays then popped out into ziplock bags. Brazilian mother’s believe that two glasses of vitamin rich, potassium and iron juice will naturally calm down the most hyperactive child and is a recommended remedy for high blood pressure. One way of calming down the excitement of your dinner guests is to muddle a drink called a mojito with passionfruit, make in advance simple syrup of equal parts sugar to water, boil in a saucepan for 4 minutes then cool. Place four mint leaves and 25ml syrup into a tall sturdy glass, then crush the mint to release the oils, pour in 50ml white rum and 25ml of passionfruit juice and stir. Add plenty of crushed ice and top up with lemon soda water. When dealing with recipes, the seeds provide too much fibre and can be offensive. Thus, I pulse my passionfruit pulp in a food processor to loosen the connective tissue and allow for the pips to be sieved away from the pulp and juice. I either replace one quarter of the seeds back into the juice or alternatively, I soak basil seeds in water until glutinous, adding to the juice to simulate edible seeds. With a little addition of lime juice and salt, you can really left the flavour profile and take your tongue for a spin with these two crowd pleasing desserts.

Next Sundays food column in Savour, Herald on Sunday is all about alaskan food. Don't forget my 3 hour cooking class at CocoZen Lodge and Spa, Northland on Wednesday 24th March at 11am. Contact Carole ~ cocozen@xtra.co.nz