I think I have been very remiss in not devoting a page to my beloved guava. The first time I remember eating guava was on a family holiday when I was very young. I'm not even sure I was at school. Mum must have bought a tin of them for us. From that moment on I have always loved them. I think it is the large seeds I like best although these days biting onto one of those could be disastrous for teeth.

Imagine my joy on arriving in Hephzibah in 1992 to discover I could buy them fresh. 

Fresh guava are a little bit like feijoa in that they have a scent and flavour that is almost like a perfume. I do not know how better to describe their unusual taste. A lot of that flavour is found in the skin so if you peel them it is not as strong. I like them ripe but the locals often eat them when they are green and crunchy with what is called chaat Masala, a salty spicy mixture. I also like them stewed for breakfast. In fact most days I have guava, dhoi ( yoghurt) and muri (rice bubbles) to start the day.

 

I usually buy them green and eat them when the skin turns lemony yellow. Sometimes the flesh is pink but more often it is white. From the outside it is impossible to tell the colour of the flesh.

They sell for about $1 a kilogramme. I was going to buy some one day and realised the price for me was different for a local person who was also buying. The seller agreed with a sheepish grin he was charging me more and let me buy the guava at the same price.

 I have had a few adventures with the fruit. Interestingly although guava was the last thing I ate before a food poisoning episode in 1992 and the first thing I brought up when the vomiting started, I have never lost the taste for guava.

In 2008 just before I flew home I made some guava jam. Foolishly I put it in my hand luggage. At Singapore airport the security people would not let me pass through because I had liquid in my hand luggage. The liquid turned out to be my guava jam. I was tired through lack of sleep and argued the jam was not liquid but to no avail. The jam stayed in Singapore. I very grumpily boarded the plane. My friends Gayleen and Angam who were with me are able to have a good chuckle about it nowadays but I can assure you at the time it was not a laughing matter.

I do not want to get into the habit of checking with google every five minutes but I found out that guava are very good for you. They are rich in Vitamin A and C, but also have other goodies including folic acid, potassium, copper, manganese Vitamin K, and an antioxidant called lycopene that helps in shielding skin against damaging UV rays.