C8 - Sunday, May 27, 1984 - North Shore News FROM PHYSALIS TO PEPINO Taking mystery out of tropical fruits HYSALIS. Feijoa. Tamarillo. Pepino. They sound like way-stations to far-away places, don’t they? You get off the train, the air is like silk, and sweet with spicy smells the people move slowly, as though walking in water; and you know life is different here, you could be nobody here and it wouldn’t matter. They are, in fact, the lovely names of New Zealand fruits, new to us, and expensive, like the now-familiar kiwi. But also like the kiwi, each has special physical beauty and flavor, which means that just one fruit can give color, elegant decoration and unusual taste to hot or cold dishes. One Tamarillo can transform your workaday Meatloaf, or your cold chicken sandwich; the pulp of one fragrant Passionfruit will give your regular cheesecake delicate color and small mango, but shiny, and very smooth. Some of these fruits have been showing in our super- markets for several weeks, but the New Zealand Trade Commission, enjoying the helpful presence of Sir the kitchen ranger by Eleanor Godley an exciting new flavor. The pretty litthey Physalis, which has a protective Jacket very like those dried ‘‘Chinese Lanterns’’ we buy in the fall for winter color, could fill the role of table decorations as well as pleasing you with its fruity tang. My favorite is the Pepino, which tastes like a juicy banana, if you can imagine that, and yet reminds one of pineapple, too. It has a sort of flat bone, or core, in the centre, under very tough skin striated red and yellow. It’s about the size and shape of a Keep food THE AROMA from hot- dogs, hamburgers, chicken and other foods cooked ona grill fills the air. Mmmmm! It must be summer. Since food poroning bacteria multiply very rapidly under the warm sun, special precautions should be taken in preparing food for picnics and similar outings. FOOD POISONING There are three simple rules to assure that your sum mer fun is safle potsoning ® Keep hot foods hot * Keep cold foods cold ¢ Keep food clean Practising these food safety precautions May seemooim possible when your outing as miles away from civilization and modern technology, but with proper planning and preparation itocoan be done Por cxample, perishablg toods should be pacdcd fi a well insulated = Cooter plenty of me keep them Stamp the Cooler ina shady spot will keep the ice from tood with cool trom melting too fast TEMPERATURE TIPS Once food is Cooked.) keep tohot untibaitas served Then, ' S CURRY HOUSE He therth Shores Faartory FREE HOME DELIVERY Pram fp Open for Lunch & Dinner. Open for Dinner Sundays 980-5411 980-0115 Ladd Lonsdale No Vancouver put leftovers and perishable foods in the cooler promptly. Be sure there is enough ice in the cooler to keep them cold. Disposable plates and utensils make picnicking more sanitary, and hetp pre- vent cross-contamination between cooked and uncook- ed food Don't use utensils and platters that held raw meat to serve cooked food unless you can wash them with soap and hot water bet ween uses ©@ Fimess. ft gives much more than it takes. PARTIOP ATION ss) Anniversary ANN wien] FYook gia May 28 15%-50% off Entire stock chs sales final) c@boks FYook Kitchen Specialty Shop « Cooking School Park Royal South 926-0816 Robert Muldoon, 1s pro- moting a wide selection of them during the next week or two, along with some of their fish and their canned products. The stores wal! label each variety, but it’s one thing to admire a display of Tamarillos and another thing to know how.er when to buy them. Are they ripe, now? Should they be redder or softer or have a different smell, or what? Here are some hints. Kiwi you know about; they should just yield to the cradl- safe | sare. hecoten reg (behind the Avalon) onan: Mon-Sat. tram 9 am 10-830: pry 988736 Sale June 2 ing hand, as a ripe avocado yields, and the skin, though not harmful, is very tart and fuzzy to boot. They’re great in salads, make a_ classy shish-kebab with marinated ‘pork, go well with chicken and seafood, and are supremely stylish on the classic Pavlova. Passion Fruit when ripe and at their best, look as though they should have been thrown out. They are then wrinkled and leathery look- ing, dull dark purple with dimples all over them. That’s when to buy one; the smooth glossy ones are hard and disappointing. Cut one in half and eat it with a spoon — they have the most delicious fragrance, and are sweet and very juicy. The mashed pulp blends with custard and mousse giving lovely color, or use it for toppings. Tamarillos look lke ripe red plums (there’s a yellow variety, too) and are firm and smooth when ripe. They should be peeled (blanch, as you would a tomato) and they’re best cooked. | find them very pretty but rather insipid and flat. The Feijoa (say ‘‘Fay-ee- jo-ah’’) looks like a= very green lemon, it’s skin thick and having pores, but it is longer in shape. Cut, it shows a design like a_ four-leaf clover, and, like the Kiwi, can be most decorative just sliced on to cold or hot foods. It’s very fragrant, though, and the flesh is rather grainy, like pear flesh. Physalis (say ‘‘Fiss-ah- liss’’) should be cooked, as it is very tart. Discard the pret- ty papery jacket first, the fruit inside is a strong yellow color when ripe. It blends well with other fruit, apples for instance, in tarts and pies, and gently poached without cutting or chopping can be used to decorate such bland desserts as vanilla pudding. It makes a most _ interesting stuffing for pork or chicken if mixed with apple, dried apricots, nuts and soft bread- crumbs, seasoned with onion and rosemary and moistened with orange or lemon juice. soe 8 You may start a riot with Living Room, Dining Room i and Hall Bob MacDougall We also clean parking lots! Oysters Fried in Beer Batter, or you just may have to eal them all yourself. The following easy recipe makes lots of batter — any left over will keep well refrigerated in a closed jar. Great for cod- fish and chips. Be sure the oysters are drained, and feel the frills for bits of shell before dipping them into the batter bowl. Fry at 375F for 2 minutes, drain on paper towel and serve right now. Chili sauce? Tartar sauce? BEER BATTER 2'4 cups of flour (625mL) l tspn. of baking powder (5mL) lL tspn. of onion salt(SmL) '’a tspn. of garlic powder (2.5mL) dash of pepper Now stir in one cup of beer or ale (250mL) Next time, a different assortment. 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