Recipes and images by Kathy Paterson
Harvested in Aotearoa New Zealand, March – May, Kiwifruit can be enjoyed in more ways than you might think. We love them on a pav, sliced, arranged in neat circles and perhaps some summer berries as well to add to the deliciousness and colour palate.
The enzyme, actinidin, in green kiwifruit has always been known to aid tenderising and marinating meat.
Now we look to using kiwifruit in smoothies and chia puddings, we dehydrate slices for snacking and making jam. Have you made a kiwifruit jam Louise slice? Swap out the raspberry jam for kiwifruit jam.
The tartness of green kiwifruit appeals to me the most and when you hit on the perfectly ripe one, it’s truly divine to eat.
Green Kiwifruit Carpaccio
Tiny sprigs of fresh and raw chervil taste like delicate anise with a hint of black pepper and give a pleasant, if somewhat surprising flavour match to kiwifruit. Chervil, a French herb most commonly known for adding to Béarnaise sauce, is well worth growing.
Serves 4
4 ripe but firm green kiwifruit
1 lime
a few tiny sprigs of chervil or very finely shredded mint leaves
To serve
Raglan Food Co vanilla bean coconut yoghurt
425ml tub Kiwi Sorbet, optional
Peel the kiwifruit, put into a covered container and freeze for 30 minutes and up to an hour. This will help with the slicing.
Use a mandolin to slice the kiwifruit into very thin slices (promise me to use the guard, as kiwifruit without their skins are slippery to handle). Or you can slice with a sharp knife.
Arrange each kiwifruit on their own plate. Finely grate over the zest of the lime and scatter over a few tiny sprigs of chervil.
Serve with yoghurt and a good scoop of Kiwi Sorbet, if wished.
Kiwifruit Granita
A Sicilian icy dessert made used frozen fruit juice and our kiwifruit are perfect for this.
Serves 4
3 large ripe green kiwifruit, peeled
25g sugar
½ tbsp lemon juice
Roughly dice the kiwifruit and put in a shallow dish, one that is suitable for the freezer and non-metallic. Put in the freezer while you make the simple syrup.
Put the sugar, lemon juice and 80ml water in a small saucepan. Gently bring to a simmer, ensuring the sugar has dissolved, then set aside to cool.
Remove kiwifruit from the freezer and put into a food processor and process until pureed. Pour in the cold syrup and process to combine.
Pour back into the freezer dish and freeze for 1½ hours. Remove and use a fork to bring the ice crystals around the edge into the middle. Return to the freezer. Repeat at half hour intervals for up to four hours until you have beautifully shaped ice crystals and a granita that doesn’t melt the moment you take it out of the freezer.
Serve with yoghurt and a bowl of sliced kiwifruit. Granita is also great served alongside a scoop of ice cream or pass around a bowl of whipped vanilla-spiked cream.
Tip
Use the fork to gently scratch/drag the ice crystals.
Click here for Kathy’s Trevally with Kiwifruit and Preserved Lemon Muddle recipe
