Tamarillos are an acquired taste. These sweet and savoury recipes put appetising twists on the divisive fruit.
Depending on your tastebuds, tamarillos will either titivate or turn off. A member of the nightshade family, tamarillos are also known as tree tomatoes and have a fleshy seedy texture that’s not
While their intense flavour can be divisive, they are surprisingly versatile, and easily utilised in sweet and savoury cooking. Harvesting months are typically between May and August, which means if we want to capitalise on their seasonality the clock is ticking.
At the market, turn your eyes to their tendrils and your nose to the skin for signs of ripeness. A ripe tamarillo will be fragrant, have a black stem and feel ever-so-slightly soft to the touch. Varieties readily available in Aotearoa are generally yellow or red-skinned. Red varieties typically have a sharper taste while yellow tamarillos are more mellow. Tamarillos keep in the fridge for about 10 days, but they stand up well to being frozen so you can keep them on hand for longer and pull out to include in these recipes as needed.
Their thick skin can be a bit toothsome for some palettes. Deal with that by using a knife to score a small cross at the base of the fruit and plunging into a saucepan of boiling water for two or three minutes. After draining the skin should peel away with ease.
For the purest flavour, eat simply scooped with a spoon, doused with as much sugar as your heart desires. Once you’ve had your fill that way, give the 13 recipes below a whirl to make the most of this underrated fruit.
Scatter in whatever odds and ends assortment of nuts you have in the pantry to add a soft toasty crunch to the crumble topping of this heart-warming tart.
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Advertise with NZME.Five ingredients churned together for a creamy frozen dessert. Coffee adds a punchiness that holds up against the headiness of the tamarillos, rounded out with the sweet and rich icecream base.
Roasting is a great cooking method for fruit that is edging on being over-ripe. Serve this zesty delight with granola for breakfast, or a scoop of icecream for dessert.
Creamy coconut and juicy red fruits – if you gave the Cherry Ripe a gourmet, grown-up makeover the result would look something like this recipe. You want the tropical topping to have some crunch, but if it’s browning too quickly pop some foil on top so it doesn’t burn.
Level up your brunch game with hot-off-the-iron waffles topped with soft poached tamarillos and a generous dollop of sweetened creme fraiche. For a heartier spin, swap the waffles out for Angela Casley’s version, made with kūmara.
Two hours of stovetop simmering will give you six medium sized jars of chutney so you can enjoy the tangy tartness of tamarillos all year round. This fruit forward chutney makes the best condiment for pairing with cheese and crackers.
If you prefer your chutney with more of a pronounced kick, give Amanda Laird’s spiced chutney a whirl. It’s peppered with ginger, mustard, cumin, coriander, fenugreek and chilli.
Added in the last hour of this low and slow cook, tamarillos add a pop of bright, silky contrast against rich fall-off-the-bone tender lamb shanks.
A tamarillo treat of one’s own. Placed in the bottom of each individual pudding mould face down into a sprinkle of sugar, tamarillos get almost bruleed in this cosy dessert. More of the fruit is folded through the batter of these simple and delicious steamed puddings.
Angela Casley recommends baking this pleasing cake in the morning and keeping it at room temperature, but cinnamon and ginger mean it’s still a warming treat no matter the temperature you serve it.
Here, sliced tamarillos are laid onto a buttery almond crumb cake base. The junction where they meet transforms into a slick and jammy swirl of sweet-tartness. If there is any leftover this would make an indulgently hearty breakfast, paired with a strong coffee.
A pure white-chocolate mousse filling gets beautifully stained with sweet, syrupy tamarillos that stun with saturated colours that are almost Gothic in appearance.
In this 20-minute recipe Eleanor Ozich poaches tamarillos in a light syrup of red wine, orange and star anise, with meltingly tender, and perfectly tangy results. You could stop there and spoon over thick Greek yoghurt, or does as Eleanor suggests and top with classic crumble topping for a bubbling dessert.
