Fruit Maven » Guava http://fruitmaven.com Your guide through the wild world of fruit. Mon, 21 May 2012 17:54:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 White Indian Guava http://fruitmaven.com/2012/04/white-indian-guava/ http://fruitmaven.com/2012/04/white-indian-guava/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:34:21 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=3472 Does anything rhyme with guava? The topic of fruit seriously lends itself to rhyming and yet there are so many that have no rhyming words. You can grapple with apple but orange is just borange. See? I can’t communicate strongly enough how much this annoys me. How am I supposed to be cute and clever working with words like guava? I guess I could shorten it. Guav are mauve. Except they’re not. Or “Don’t jump in the lava. Eat a guava!” A new tag line for Hawaii perhaps.
white-indian-guava
So I tried this not-mauv guav a few weeks ago and was surprised by how much I liked it. Guava flavored things are generally pretty great as is guava nectar. But most fresh guava are way too acidic for me. If you let them ripen extra long, they do sweeten up but it can be hard to tell. Plus you have to rely on the farmer to do this and that’s kind of a crap shoot in my experience. I tried quite a few of these though and they were all pretty good (minus the ubiquitous, rock hard BB gun pellets passing themselves off as seeds). And it seems like a good sign when research shows that growing this variety is a favorite of rare fruit fanciers (whatever that is). I hope I’m one! But I doubt it since I don’t grow anything except a little mold in the fridge when my fruit buying habit gets out of control.

White Indian Guava

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Smooth, muted chartreuse skin, with gorgeous peach flesh.

AROMA 5 out of 5 stars

Extremely pungent, tropical fragrance that fills the room with the smell of pineapple and banana.

TEXTURE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Flesh is soft and melting somewhat like slightly fibrous pudding. Gritty skin reminiscent of pears and an overwhelming amount of annoyingly hard seeds.

TASTE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Delightfully mild and sweet. Not overly acidic. Reminds me of an exotic creamy banana mixed with a sweet tangerine. Very well balanced.

OVERALL 4.25 out of 5 stars

This is my new favorite type of guava. I just need to figure out how to strain out those seeds and I’ll be all set. If you come across this type, be sure to snatch a batch.

FRUIT
Guava		 PEAK
Winter/Spring		 PURCHASED
n/a
VARIETY
White Indian		 GROWN
California

OTHER NONSENSE

I like to rhyme. I do it all the time. Especially when I’m feeling sublime from finding a lime. At times I share my lime with a mime so he can use it to clean the grime from his dimes. Sometimes.

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2012/04/white-indian-guava/feed/ 2 Strawberry Guava http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/strawberry-guava/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/strawberry-guava/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:46:05 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=385 If your dream job is at the Acme Corporation, then this is the fruit for you!
APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Petite dark red berry about the size of a super bouncy ball or a large marble but with the shape of bomb that Wile E. Coyote would use; white flesh and big seeds

AROMA 4.5 out of 5 stars

Sweet like strawberries with a slightly more perfumy vibe

TEXTURE 2.5 out of 5 stars

Lots of different textures going on here: the peel is tender but noticeable, then a slightly grainy, gelatinous section, followed by a soft creamy interior with edible seeds (I spit them out)

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Strong, sweet and acidic flavor with a tart finish – definite strawberry notes in the flesh and a little bit floral in the peel

OVERALL 3.63 out of 5 stars

You can pop the entire thing in your mouth and it just explodes with tart, sweet, exotic strawberry flavor. This is a fantastically fun fruit but I will say that after five or six of them, I was really tired of the seeds and my tongue hurt from the acidity. Also, for being so “fun” I didn’t go back and get more.

FRUIT

Guava

VARIETY

Strawberry

PEAK

Fall

ORIGIN

Brazil

GROWN

Creekside Tropicals
California

PURCHASED

Farmer’s Market

NOTES

Apparently the seeds can be roasted as a substitute for coffee and the leaves can be used for tea. This just does not sound good to me. I suppose if you were stranded somewhere tropical and desperate for something caffeinated and you simultaneously had the tools you would need to properly roast and brew coffee, then these would be a god send. Although now that I think about it, I don’t actually know that these are caffeinated, so scratch that part. Good luck and do report back if this awful circumstance happens upon you.

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/strawberry-guava/feed/ 0 Vietnamese Guava http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/vietnamese-guava/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/vietnamese-guava/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:11:42 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=665 If you quote “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid. Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!” every time you see a department store Santa, then this is the fruit for you! vietnamese-guava-whole
APPEARANCE 3 out of 5 stars

Bumpy green flesh, pear shaped, softball size fruit, with white flesh and little BB gun, pellet-like seeds

AROMA 3.5 out of 5 stars

Fresh and herbal

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Soft and grainy

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Slightly melony, maybe even with a hint of banana, very low acidity

OVERALL 3.5 out of 5 stars

This fruit is less acidic than most guava and has a nice, rounded, mellow flavor. However, that also makes it a little boring. Luckily I entertained myself by spitting/shooting out the little pellet seeds as if I had personally transformed in to an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

FRUIT

Guava

VARIETY

Vietnamese

PEAK

Fall

ORIGIN

Origin

GROWN

Creekside Tropicals
California

PURCHASED

Farmer’s Market
..

….

NOTES

The man who sold this to me indicated that this particular guava could be eaten while still firm and would be fantastic – unlike most guava where you should really wait until they are soft (like a ripe avocado). So I cut this open while it was still quite firm and I have to say I think he was wrong. Only the very center was soft and that was the part I reviewed above. The hard parts were terrible – very acidic and lacking flavor.

WHERE TO GET THEM

When in season, you can buy various types of guava at some standard grocery stores, most asian grocery stores and online here. If you get them online, a small amount will go to support the Fruit Maven. So thanks in advance!

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2009/12/vietnamese-guava/feed/ 0 Brazilian Guava http://fruitmaven.com/2009/10/brazilian-guava/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/10/brazilian-guava/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:23:28 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=363 If you go to the cheese section and politely sample the cheddar while swooning over the stinky Taleggio and Epoisses, then this is the fruit for you!
APPEARANCE 3 out of 5 stars

Waxy looking sunny, yellow globe with tangerine orange flesh

AROMA 4 out of 5 stars

Sweet and tangy with a strong perfumy smell that seems slightly fermented

TEXTURE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Soft and creamy with seeds interspersed throughout

TASTE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Sweet tropical taste with a citrus side to it

OVERALL 3.75 out of 5 stars

This is a yummy little guava with a strong citrusy twang. The seeds are a little distracting but at least they were smooth and easy to spit out (though I am told you can eat them). I want more of these. Seriously. Right now.

FRUIT

Guava

VARIETY

Brazilian

PEAK

Unknown

ORIGIN

Central America

GROWN

Koral’s Tropical Fruit Farm
Vista, CA

PURCHASED

Farmer’s Market

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