I LOVE the gentle, sweet, at times spicy taste of loquats. This south China native that is always laden at this time of year with its small, slightly furry fruit does well in New Zealand’s climate and is grown commercially overseas for both fruit and leaves which are made into herbal tea. You have to be quick though, for as with all really lovely fruit, its season comes but once a year and is a brief one. And what you don’t get, possums and birds surely will! It’s an underrated fruit, but does have good medicinal benefits too, known to help with nausea, eyesight and early testing is thought to show it helps in the fight against cancer; it is very high in antioxidants. It’s high acidity also means it’s good for making jams, jellies, chutneys – even wine. It makes a lovely salsa, which goes well with grilled chicken, fish, on a home-made burger patty – even tacos or other Mexican foods, because that is what salsa was created for originally. The best fruit for this is when it’s just soft – very ripe fruit browns quite quickly once chopped and loquats, once picked, need to be used within a day or so. The heat in this recipe can be adjusted to suit your personal taste. If you prefer mild salsas, replace the jalapenos with a capsicum, which also helps to create a more colourful dish. Loquat salsa Ingredients 1 C chopped loquats 1 large tomato, chopped ⅓ C diced onion 1 diced jalapeno, more if you like a more heat 2 cloves finely diced garlic 2 tbs finely chopped mint 2 tbs finely chopped coriander 2 tbs lime or lemon juice 1 tbs orange juice 1 tsp olive oil ½ tsp each salt and pepper
Method Remove seeds and flower end of the loquats, then chop. Add loquats to a bowl, then add tomato, onion, jalapenos, garlic, mint, and coriander. Mix in lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, and salt. If possible, allow the flavours to develop for an hour before serving.
