When it cools down and autumn hits in New Zealand, office kitchens and staff rooms are suddenly abundant with the sweet smell of our widely available little fruit – the feijoa.
But spare a thought for Kiwis who have made Australia home – where they don’t seem to understand our feijoa fantasy.
Piera Maclean, who has lived in Melbourne for a decade, longs for the taste.
“Normally at this time of year in New Zealand everyone’s having feijoa crumble all the time and making cakes. They’ve got so many. Whereas here it’s like if you find three, you know you’re feeling very lucky and it’s the best day ever.”
I believe fejoas are native to South America. Wikipedia says that they are hard to transport as they bruise easily, so while they are transported internationally it is pretty uncommon.
It mentions New Zealand, California, and Columbia as the main places that grow them. So if they are hard to transport they probably are hard to find outside of those places. It also mentions some growing happening in southern Azerbaijan so if you happen to be there maybe you’ll find some.
Yeah they are South American, there is even a picture of a feijoa tree in the Colombian passport. But usually when I mention feijoa to South Americans they think I’m talking about ‘feijoada’, which is a Brazilian bean/meat stew 😂
Wikipedia mentions the term “quirina”, I wonder if that would be more familiar to them?