tropical fruit salad

dragonfruit. lychees. mango. yum.

I don’t know how well this really fits into Weekend Herb Blogging, but it seems to adhere to the rules, and it’s something many people may be unfamiliar with… and I just found out it’s actually a cactus plant, which renders it kinda herby, don’t you think?

this is also not much of a recipe/dish, but it IS lush. and hey, I’m new at this.

DRAGON FRUIT aka Pitaya

so, it’s a cactus, we’ve covered that. they’re easily available at the markets here in the tropics, and pretty cheap - 3 for $5, although mangos are currently 6 (giants) for $5, or free from colleagues/friends with a tree, so mangos win. the ones I bought are red, but there are other varieties, and the flesh can also be white, grey-ish or yellow-ish, with the little back seeds. in searching around for info links, I read over and over that it is “kinda like kiwifruit” and even that it was related to kiwifruit. since I myself AM a kiwi, and am therefore reasonably familiar with kiwifruit vines, I am quite convinced that kiwifruit is NOT a cactus. but you never know.

tastewise, I also don’t think its too close to kiwifruit, probably it’s the texture and the lovely little seeds that remind everyone of that other crazy-looking and close-to-my-heart fruit.

enough about what dragonfruit isn’t and on to what dragonfruit is: perfumed, a little earthy, not hugely sweet. it’s a lovely delicate flavour, which reminds me very slightly of fresh beetroot, and when you first cut it open it smells just a little like garden picked sun-ripened tomatoes.

anyway, the flavour is nice, but not amazing in my books, which is why I’ve tossed it with lush-lush-lush mango and lychees, with some lime zest and juice.

where the dragonfruit comes into it’s own, however, is visual appeal. it is BEAUTIFUL. I’m obviously a fan, that’s dragonfruit in my header. the unskinned fruit is fantastic to look at in the fruit bowl, with the pink and green fleshy skin with spikes. the black-speckled deep pink cubes look exquisite in the fruit salad, and the red-pink juice goes everywhere and stains everything (making a gorgeous pink syrup in the fruit salad, but also pink tinted fingers and a big pink splotch on my shirt: beware!).

so, I think dragonfruit can be best used for it’s pinkness - and I’m thinking of moving on to pink smoothies and sorbets, jellies, etc etc. I just love pink!

I took this fruit salad to work (it was waaaay too big for just me. the mango alone was the size of a baby’s head) and everyone said “oh! what’s the red stuff? oh, yum!”

oh, and I love the pile of exquisite remains on the chopping board afterwards.

coffee…

I’ve tried giving up coffee before, but it’s not for me. so I’m just comfortable with having an addiction to a stimulant. hey, I LIKE being stimulated, who doesn’t? and coffee is enjoyable and socially beneficial, rarely incites people to violence and makes us more productive, so as long as it’s legal, why not? bring it on!

who knows whether the ‘Ethiopian Goat Herder‘ story is history or myth (pretty much the same thing in my line), but personally I like the imagery of some crazy goats getting a bit of a perk-up from coca berries to get them through the grind (sorry) of scrounging for sustanance amongst the rocks day after day. there’s something Leunig-esque about it, don’t you think?

I have Gone Down To Get Coffee with ‘Jo and Jo’ on a near daily basis for a few years now. we share a love/need for coffee, and it gives us a chance to catch up, gossip and whinge about the boss.. oh, and, I mean, talk about upcoming projects. it was during a coffee trip/whinge session that we decided that we should quit work and started a business together so it could be called ‘Jo, Jo, Zo & Co.’

hasn’t happened yet, and we’ve now lost a ‘Jo’, but before she left she brilliantly liased with our local, Coffee Dominion (sshhh! I go to several. I’m a coffee slut. don’t tell them) who agreed to facilitate 2x Coffee Appreciation and Espresso Training workshops as part of the school holiday program (SHP) we run. so last week, 12 eager 12-18 year olds and 3 even more eager staff members arrived bright and early for 3 hours of history, theory, bean grinding, expresso machine managing, timing, milk frothing, pouring .. and of course; tasting! we staff were suffering a serious case of SHP Hangover from days and days of activities and events (well, not Karyn, she just wanted coffee) so it was a very welcome event.

since this is a food blog, and some people will actually want some info on the coffee making itself, here are some tips:

coffee beans are best ground straight before brewing: grounds start to stale after 3 seconds, due to the massively increased surface area/volume ratio, even if vacuum packed etc.. so grind on demand!

it is the oil from the beans that is essential, not some other mysterious brown quality, which is why expresso (vs plunger or heaven forbid percolated) has such a nice ‘mouth feel’ - the hot water, forced through the grounds with pressure, captures the oil particles better.

speaking of water.. don’t use distilled water: the minerals are essential for ‘capturing’ the coffee oils and wrenching them from the grounds. but you can be picky - city tap H2O with added chlorine etc isn’t great either.

don’t overheat the milk!! it should be cooler than most people expect - only ‘froth’ to 55-60 degrees C or so.. after that the lactose levels that build up nicely at that heat all drop away again, and you loose the natural sweetness.

that’s all I can remember.. I think the young people enjoyed it, they really got into it, including what to look for in taste and texture, and rating each others brews. Justin told them they would be the most popular members of their family if they master the art of good coffee.. here are a few pics of Jonothan and some ‘trainee baristas’, including a baby cowboy (look how little he is!) who was surprisingly into it, and Penny’s son Zinzan (look out, girls).

the good oil

This is a bit retrospect, but it’s the first post, and this is probably the most worthy-of-being-blogged food preparation I’ve done for a while.. (consuming = different story!) so I’ll start with this.

For the past 4 years I have been hoarding my empty 500ml olive oil bottles. they have been beautifully slender, square dark green ones - brands I have been loyal to, yes, for their superior tasting oil, but, I will admit, also for their covetable bottles.

this has caused some grief for T who cares not for pretty bottles or hoarding. despite my insisting that I was going to Make Spiced Oil For Christmas, the silly season sillied it’s way past oil-less until this Christmas… when just before leaving for the migration south (family + relief from wet [= HOT] season in the tropics) I finally Made Spiced Oil!

SPICED OIL (less recipe than general idea)

cold pressed virgin olive oil (I bought 3 ltrs)

bottles in corresponding numbers to oil quantity (I filled 6 x 500ml = 3 ltrs)

garlic cloves (one large clove in each bottle was about right)

your favourite whole spices (I used FENUGREEK, CUMIN, NIGELLA SEEDS, MUSTARD SEEDS, FENNEL, CARAWAY) approx 4 tblsp spice mix per bottle

wash bottles well, dry, place in a hot (180 degrees celcius) oven to sterilise for 10-15 minutes (take plastic pour thingies out of the top) turn off oven and leave to cool - don’t touch! dry toast spices, divide and pour spices (I miraculously found my little funnel in the drawer) into cooled bottles, chuck in a peeled, raw garlic clove (a clean and blemish free chilli could go in now too), pour the olive oil into the bottles (hello funnel!). spend several hours playing around coming up with cute label designs… and voila! Spiced Oil For Christmas! presents: sorted.
wait a week or two for flavours to develop, it’s great for salad dressing, bread dipping, marinating, bbq-ing…

Hello world!

a blog in development about the puku.. ok, so really mostly about what goes in it!