Golden Kiwifruit

The golden kiwi is my new favourite fruit, and I don’t even like kiwis. Actually the golden kiwi was my new favourite fruit several years ago when I first tried one; now it is just one of my regular favourites.

They are available mostly in the summer, coinciding with the winter (kiwi’s ripening season) in New Zealand. Golden kiwifruit are one of the few not-BC-grown fruits that I will buy during the summer months. And only because they are really that good.

Ok, so, picture for a moment the green kiwi. It is quite tart, a bit fibrous, often leaving a metallic aftertaste in the mouth. Even if you like green kiwis, you can’t deny their strange aftertaste and frequent lack of fruity sweetness.

Now try a golden kiwi. See that? Tender and smooth as a ripe nectarine, perfect sweet-tart balance, a wonderful fragrant lemony flavour, and no strange after-taste. So delicious! The difference between a golden kiwi and a green kiwi is like the difference between a just-picked juicy Spartan or Gala apple and an cold-storage Granny Smith.

Not that I want to seriously malign the green kiwi. In fact, once I tried and loved a golden kiwi, I started to like the green ones, too. I could handle the tartness and the aftertaste for the hint of sweet kiwi perfume I was able to extract from the experience.

But in the summer, my kiwi heart and kiwi palate belong to the golden kiwi.

Gold kiwis are pretty easy to find in the summer months. Most supermarkets will carry them. I have also found them in Chinatown. If you haven’t already, buy one and try one at least once this summer. Make sure the kiwi is ripe, but not over-ripe (over-ripe gold kiwis taste sickly and almost alcoholic). To be perfectly ripe, the kiwi should be a bit firm, but still give easily to gentle pressure.

Like Rainier cherries, I find that I don’t usually bother with recipes when golden kiwi season comes around. We eat them in droves until they are no longer available. BUT for a real and unusual treat, try a gold kiwi sliced over some coconut rice pudding. Yowza!