Passionfruit: A very vine thing (+recipes)

Photo / Babiche Martens

I just adore passionfruit - its fresh, tart acidity wakes me up and fires me into kitchen action.

And, it seems, I am not alone. One Colombian chef, with the help of some culinary students, has been inspired by this exotic fruit into creating a dessert that combines passionfruit with Viagra.

When trialled, it allegedly heightened the libido of elderly diners. Although that clearly had a lot to do with the Viagra.

All I know is my Viagra-free "just-set passionfruit tart", with a crisp shard of toffee, always sold out when it was on my restaurant menu.

It is the season for passionfruit and, as well as having my own plentiful crop begging to be picked my neighbours' vine dangles conveniently over my fence.

In fact, my hometown of Kerikeri grew the first commercial passionfruit crop in 1927 and soon after, it was growing in Auckland and Tauranga.

The passionfruit seed originates from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. This intensely scented fruit hit our shores in the 19th century when the seed was taken to Hawaii. It is thought to have been named by early Spanish travellers who saw a resemblance in the flowers to the crucifix of Christ.

This rampant vine starts to bear fruit within 18 months of planting, with a cropping life of up to eight years in frost-free areas. The fruit is at its sweetest when the shells start to become wrinkly and fall to the ground.

They will store refrigerated for up to two weeks and the pulp, mixed with a little sugar, can be frozen in ice trays then popped into bags. Brazilian mothers believe that two glasses of the vitamin-, potassium- and iron-rich juice will calm the most hyperactive child and it is a recommended remedy for high blood pressure.

One way of calming down the excitement of your dinner guests is to muddle a drink called a mojito with passionfruit.

Make in advance a simple syrup of equal parts sugar to water, boil in a saucepan for four minutes, then cool. Place four mint leaves and 25ml syrup into a tall, sturdy glass, then crush the mint, pour in 50ml white rum and 25ml of passionfruit juice and stir. Add plenty of crushed ice and top up with lemon soda water.

When cooking with passionfruit, the seeds have too much fibre and can be offensive. Thus, I pulse my passionfruit pulp in a food processor to loosen the connective tissue and allow for the pips to be sieved away from the pulp and juice. I either replace one quarter of the seeds in the juice or soak basil seeds in water until glutinous, adding to the juice to simulate edible seeds.

By adding a little lime juice and salt you can really lift the flavour profile and take your tongue for a spin with these two crowd-pleasing desserts.

Passionfruit mirror
Passionfruit sorbet

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