The "humble" guava

If you happened to see two crazy people on the side of the road a week or so ago, trying to knock down some guavas from trees, I have to confess!

My son and I decided to take a drive on the back roads and see if we could find some good guavas still on the trees. We went prepared. We had some short poles and several plastic bags and I was dreaming of harvesting tons of ripe guavas.

Well, after driving all over the Old Mamalahoa back roads and other little side roads, and gathering a few here and there, the best guavas we found were by the sides of the highway near home and a few guavas and passion fruit right by our own driveway!

I have written about using guavas before and have made mention of them at other times and given a few recipes using this fruit. But I'm still amazed at the fact that though the fruit grows all over our island and except for a few products you can buy, guavas are very under-utilized in the islands. It pains me to see so many going to waste on the sides of the road.

The guava, (Psidium Guajava) known as guayaba in Spanish and waiwee in Hawaii, is native to the American tropics and Caribbean. Can be round or oval, large or small, green when ripe or yellow, with slightly pink or deep red inside. Very fragrant, loaded with Vitamin C, mostly in the edible thin peel and contains lots of little inedible seeds. Different varieties have different flavors.

Can be eaten out of hand, fresh, or used in desserts, jellies, jams, juice, ice cream or sauces. Available canned as marmalade and a special dessert made with the shells in thick syrup in many Hispanic markets. It is grown in cultivation and also wild all over the Hawaiian roadsides. Now grown in California and Florida as well as Southeast Asia. Related to the crepe myrtle. Available spring and summer and almost year around in Hawaii, but most prolific in the early fall.

The fruit is also full of pectin and making jams and jellies is a breeze, but I love making marmalade, which I could buy in cans in Cuba and Florida, but can never find here.

Guavas come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from a small round ovoid to pear-shaped, weighing up to one pound.   The skin is usually yellow when ripe, but the flesh may be white, yellow, pink or red.   Fruit ranges from thin to thick-skinned and from few to many seeds.   The best varieties have few seeds and generous firm pulp.   Flavors vary from sweet to acid, while the distinctive aroma may be mild and pleasant or strong and penetrating.

Guavas pack a wallop of Vitamin C.  They have one of the highest contents of Vitamin C of any tropical fruit, including oranges.  A medium sized guava contains 132 grams of the C Vitamin, 3 to 6 times higher than oranges, 10 to 30 times higher than bananas and 10 times higher than papayas.   Most of the Vitamin C is concentrated in the skin, reaching a maximum potency when fully mature but still green, and declining as fruit ripens.   Guavas (one medium) contain 69 calories per serving, scant traces of fat and about 5.6 grams of fiber.   It contains a small portion of Vitamins B1 and B2.

In some countries like Malaysia, it is believed that regular consumption of guavas helps reduce or prevent hypertension, high blood pressure and even ward off influenza.   The only other fruit to make these claims is the common garlic.

GUAVA DAIQUIRIS
Guess what? You can even use guavas in a frozen daiquiri for a refreshing alternative. Yields 4 servings.

2/3 cup light rum
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup superfine sugar
4 guavas, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cups crushed ice
1 sliced lime for garnish (optional)

When you peel the guavas, make sure you peel thinly and don't take too much of the pulp. In a blender, combine the rum, lime juice, and sugar. Add the guavas. Blend until smooth. Add ice a little at a time until the mixture becomes thick and slushy. Pour into glasses and garnish with the lime slices.

GUAVA GLAZED SWEET POTATOES
You can use your own homemade guava jelly or store bought. Either way, they will be good. Yields 6 servings

6 sweet potatoes - cooked and peeled
1 cup guava jam or jelly
2 Tablespoons butter

Butter a 13 X 9 X 2-inch baking dish. Cut sweet potatoes into lengthwise halves and arrange in a single layer in prepared dish.

In a saucepan, heat jelly and butter, stirring constantly, until melted. Drizzle half of the guava syrup over the sweet potatoes; bake in oven at 350oF for 15 minutes. Turn potatoes; baste with remaining syrup. Bake for 15 more minutes or so.

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(c) Excerpts from a combination of several articles that first appeared in the Hamakua Times of Honoka'a (May & June 99) and in The Hawaii Tribune-Herald of Hilo (June 02- & September 04) - parts also published in  "Tropical Taste" cookbook by Sonia Martinez.