Ingredient: Kiwi fruit
Category: Fruit
Season: All
The kiwi is the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine (Actinidia deliciosa) and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia.
The Actinidia is native to Shaanxi, China.
The kiwifruit originated in China.
The most common cultivars of kiwifruit are oval, about the size of a large hen's egg (5–8 cm / 2–3 in long and 4.5–5.5 cm / 1¾–2 in diameter).
It has a fibrous, dull green-brown skin and bright green or golden flesh with rows of small, black, edible seeds.
The fruit has a soft texture and a unique flavour.
Originally known as the Chinese gooseberry, the fruit was renamed for marketing reasons in the mid-20th century, first to melonette, and then to kiwifruit.
The latter name was chosen for the indigenous New Zealand bird, kiwi, which is one of the country's national symbols.
The second renaming was done in order to avoid a tariff on imported melons.
It is not uncommon outside of New Zealand and Australia for the fruit to be referred to simply as "kiwi".
Today, kiwifruit is also a commercial crop in California.
Names:
This fruit had a long history before it was commercialised as kiwifruit and therefore had many other older names
In Chinese:
Macaque peach (míhóu táo): the most common name
Macaque pear (míhóu lí)
Vine pear (téng lí)
Sunny peach (yáng táo)
Wood berry (mù zi)
Hairy bush fruit (máo yee goh)
Unusual fruit or wonder fruit (qíyì guǒ):
The most common name in Taiwan and Hong Kong (kay yee goh), a quasi-transliteration, of "kiwifruit", literally "strange fruit".
When introduced to New Zealand by Isabel Fraser it was called Sunny peach (yáng táo) in China.
People in New Zealand thought it had a gooseberry flavour and began to call it the Chinese gooseberry, although it is not related to the Grossulariaceae (gooseberry) family.
Food value:
Kiwifruit is a rich source of vitamin C ,
Its potassium content by weight is slightly less than that of a banana.
It also contains vitamins A and E.
The skin is a good source of flavonoid antioxidants.
The kiwifruit seed oil contains on average 62% alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. Usually a medium size kiwifruit contains about 46 calories, 0.3-gram fats, 1 gm proteins, 11 gm carbohydrates, 75 mg vitamins and 2.6 grams dietary fibre.
Raw kiwifruit is also rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme “Actinidin” , (in the same family of thiol proteases as papain),
This enzyme makes raw kiwifruit unsuitable for use in desserts containing milk or any other dairy products which are not going to be served within hours, because it soon begins to digest milk proteins.
This applies to gelatin-based desserts as well , as the actinidin will dissolve the collagen proteins in gelatin very quickly, either liquifying the dessert, or preventing it from solidifying.
However, some chefs’ have suggested, that cooking the fruit for a few minutes before adding it to the gelatin will overcome this effect.
Sliced kiwifruit has long been regularly used as a garnish on top of whipped cream, on one of New Zealand and Australia's favourite desserts, the pavlova.
Preparation and consumption:
Kiwifruit can be eaten whole, like an apple (and, rarely, even including the skin, which increases the tartness), cut in half and eaten like a passion fruit or peeled and sliced, like a pineapple.
For people who prefer not to eat the skin, the fruit can be cut in half and then the flesh scooped out with a spoon.
Kiwifruit is sometimes sold with a spife, (a plastic tool designed for this purpose with a spoon at one end and a knife at the other). So that you can slice the top off and scoop the flesh out with the spife (or a teaspoon); as if you were eating a boiled egg.
Another method is to slice the fruit into several rounds about 5 mm (¼ in) thick, possibly cutting each round into quarters, and serving it, skin-on, as a platter or with plain yogurt.
Kiwifruit can be peeled using a potato peeler, drawing up from the bottom towards the thicker, harder end where the fruit was attached to its branch.
Cutting "against the grain" releases juice, which lubricates the blade and a swifter, cleaner cut results. |