New ways to cook with the nation's favourite fruit
Get kiwi-fruity in the kitchen with the NZ icon
Kia ora friends,
As we enter the far side of the winter solstice in NZ, this week’s newsletter is all about the fruit that’s become somewhat of a national icon - the kiwifruit. Inspiration for the theme of my recipe newsletters often comes from different places, and this week’s was born from me seeing new season kiwifruit in the supermarket, over-zealously buying far too many, and after a week of ignoring them in the fruit bowl, realising this was an excellent opportunity to figure out some creative ways to use kiwifruit in the kitchen, to share here with you.
Kiwifruit have always been a curious fruit to me - their furry brown skin (which is totally cool to eat, just bite straight into the kiwifruit!) unassumingly concealing the juicy jewel-like (typically) green flesh. I remember as a child, before I realised you could just bite straight into the kiwifruit, there was always a degree of lunchbox admin that annoyed me when eating a kiwifruit - I’d bring a teaspoon with me from home and try to halve the kiwifruit with the blunt round of the spoon to get to the goodness inside, and this was highly inconvenient when I was desperately wanting to go and play four square.
Called a Chinese gooseberry when they were first grown in New Zealand at the turn of the 20th century (from seeds brought over from mainland China), in the 1950’s it was decided to rename them as kiwifruit as part of an industry marketing strategy, thanks to their small, brown and fuzzy similarity to our national bird. While my favourite is the classic green kiwifruit, these days you can get gold, red, or even miniature kiwiberries.
We typically think of using kiwifruit in sweet dishes, like the classic pavlova or fruit salad. And if you scroll down further, this week’s mood booster recipe is a kiwifruit upside-down cake which is an absolute must-make! But the fresh sweetness and slight tang makes it an excellent ingredient in savoury cooking too, particularly in things like salsas, sauces or salads, where its flavour nicely offsets more savoury or spicy ingredients. An excellent example of this is in my recipe for Cauliflower tacos with tahini sweetcorn and kiwi salsa. The kiwifruit salsa is the star of the show in these tacos, bringing that perfect balance of heat, sweet and zing. These tacos are plant-based, simple to make, and can be prepared in less than 1 hour - plus they tick all the flavour boxes!
While kiwifruit is usually eaten fresh, just as other fruits like strawberries and stone fruit are delicious when roasted, roasted and caramelised kiwifruit are a very very good time. Winter has also brought the start of the yam season here in Aotearoa (for anyone American reading, our ‘yams’ are different to your sweet potatoes), and they’re one of my favourite vegetables to roast and devour, usually with a honey-inspired glaze to bring out their sweetness. With this in mind, I thought I’d share this recipe for Kiwi-glazed yam + Brussels salad with apple, parmesan + za’atar. It might seem a bit out there, but kiwifruit is blitzed with honey, ginger, garlic and lime then tossed through the roasted vege near the end of roasting to create a sweet and tangy coating. Paired with some sharp parmesan, za’atar (the Middle Eastern spice mix), and fresh green apple, it’s winter salad eating at its best.
These recipes prove that kiwifruit is a far more versatile fruit than one might typically think - hopefully some inspiration for you to get creative with kiwis in your kitchen this week!
There’s some exciting stuff I’m planning for the release of my cookbook, Good Vibes, in the coming weeks - be sure to check-in to my next newsletter for some more announcements - and maybe even a sneak peek!
Much love,
Alby xx
This week’s MOOD BOOSTER:
Banana, lime + kiwifruit upside-down cake
Sometimes I feel like I say this about every new recipe I create, but this cake is my absolute favourite recipe of the moment. I think it’s in part because I kind of winged it when making it, and was so blown away when it actually turned out this blimmin’ good. It’s completely plant-based (and you can’t even tell), and the cake is moist, soft and flavourful, with banana and zingy lime that matches so deliciously with the sweet caramelised kiwifruit on top. Equally good warm or at room temperature, this cake is easy and stress-free to make, and will keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container at room temp. I’ve suggested a square cake tin, but if you only have a round tin on hand, a 20-23cm round tin will also do nicely - just be aware that baking times may differ slightly.
serves 12-16, makes one 20-23cm square cake
Ingredients:
50g vegan butter or spread (e.g. Olivani)
150g soft brown sugar
75ml freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 3 limes)
4-5 ripe-but-firm green kiwifruit, peeled and sliced into 7mm rounds
finely grated zest of 3 limes
75g caster sugar
125g mashed banana (from 1 medium-large ripe banana)
100ml canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
150ml oat milk
250g plain flour
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (or 180°C conventional). Grease with oil and line a 20-23cm square cake tin with baking paper.
First make the lime caramel for the cake. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt together the vegan butter, 75g brown sugar and 25ml lime juice. Once the sugar has dissolved into the melted butter, pour the caramel evenly into the base of the lined tin. Top with the kiwifruit slices, arranged in a single layer to cover the base.
For the cake batter, in a large bowl, rub the lime zest into the caster sugar until fragrant. Add the remaining 50ml lime juice, 75g brown sugar, mashed banana, oil, vanilla and oat milk, and whisk together until well combined. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt, until evenly combined. Make a well in the centre and pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold together until well combined and no specks of flour remain. Spoon the cake batter over the layer of kiwifruit into the lined cake tin and smooth the top. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a serving plate.
Serve warm or at room temperature, on its own or with a spoonful of plant-based yoghurt.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ):
Kiwifruit
Brussels sprouts
Limes
Lemons
Pumpkins
Early Yams
Leeks
Kitchen music of the moment:
One of the great parts about living in Dunedin is the live music scene, and last week we were treated to the harmonies of The Mitchell Twins, who are in the middle of their first solo tour across the country. The maturity in their young voices is impressive, and I particularly enjoyed the title track off their recently released EP, Find a River, inspired by the Topp Twins’ challenges in being separated while battling breast cancer. If you get a chance to see them live, I promise their voices are even better in person.
As I write this I’m listening to Funeral, a song by US indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, which has wormed its way from a random Spotify playlist into my conscious and I’ve been listening to it a lot since. Something about the lyrics and delivery is so raw and powerful - have a listen.
Interesting reads:
Another incentive to make the most of the kiwifruit, as harvest numbers are down this year
Why are pineapple upside-down cakes so popular in the US?
Renowned author Witi Ihimaera has revisited his ground-breaking debut novel Tangi, to commemorate 50 years since he became the first published Māori author in Aotearoa.
I love any ideas to reduce food waste - try this recipe for stale bread pesto from the legend Tom Hunt
My debut cookbook, Good Vibes: Eat well with feel-good flavours, is coming in August!! Click on the image above to pre-order your copy now!!