Passport & Plate - Kiwifruit sauce
New Zealand | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
1 kg kiwifruit
4 whole cloves garlic
2tsp black pepper
pinch cayenne (optional)
1tsp ground allspice
1tsp salt
1.5C sugar
1.5C white vinegar
How to prepare this recipePeel and roughly chop the kiwfruit. Puree if you like a less chunky sauce.
Add all remaining ingredients to a large pot, bring to the boil and simmer approximately 45 minutes until thick, but before the mixture starts to catch.
Remove and discard the garlic.
Pour into sterilised jars and seal.
The story behind this recipeA few years ago my mother bought a cafe in rural New Zealand; within a month she suffered a mini-stroke. My youngest sister, who has a disability had just started high school in the South Island; the other had a one year old child. I returned from Australia to help my mum in the cafe "for a few weeks".
That became a year and a half of working with my mum, who fully recovered, every day, helping her to fulfill her dream. We also fulfilled one of mine along the way, making half of the cafe into a bookshop.
Being in an isolated area, working long hours, we used the opportunity to try out a whole lot of recipes we'd collected but never had the opportunity to make. I taught myself to preserve: jams, chutneys, sauces .. making the most of what was available. This kiwifruit sauce was one of those recipes. We served it on a lamb burger and even sold whole jars of it!
I don't often make it these days but everytime I do, I remember that time with my mum. We drove each other crazy on a regular basis but we also had an opportunity to build a really solid adult relationship and get to know each other even better than we already did, if that makes sense. The cafe didn't work out for my mum in the end, but neither of us have any regrets about giving it our very best effort.
