Mango with Finger Limes

Failure to act on a habitable climate will bring more unbearable heatwaves across Australia. They are becoming hotter, lasting longer, occurring more often and starting earlier.

In the present heatwave only chilled fruit helps. In this case a gigantic deep red mango is cut in half and sprinkled with green finger limes.

The varieties of mangoes are dazzling, each having a different taste and structure. There is no such thing as 'the mango'. The non-organic fruit tried this season had an awful aftertaste which I think is due to pesticide. Organic seems to be the answer with Australian mangoes.

Another issue is the declaring of native wildlife a 'pest' that might 'steal' suburban exotic mangoes. In the Northern Territory mango farms shoot magpie geese.

As a consumer one should take care that not too much pesticide or blood clings to one's fruit crop.

Cold Drinks from Finger Limes and Passionfruit

Get
1 litre of cold mineral water
or cold filtered water
4 finger limes
1 lime

Do
Pour water into jug. Cut finger limes lengthwise, discard seeds. Scrape vegetarian caviar into water and stir. Cut washed limes into halves. Juice one half and add to the water. Cut the other half of the lime into 6 thin slices and stick a few on the edge of the glass. Pour mixture into glasses and enjoy on a hot day.

Get
1 litre of mineral water
or filtered water
8 passion fruit
2 Tbsp of agave syrup

Do
Cut pulp out of ripe passion fruit and press through a fine mesh sieve. Add agave syrup, stir. Place in jug and pour cold water on top. Mix and serve cold.

More Finger limes

Pink Grapefruit with Finger Limes or Granita

GET
1 Grapefruit
2 Finger Limes (Microcitrus australasica)


DO
Refrigerate fruit. Cut the grapefruit in halves. Cut around the edges with a grapefruit knife, cut along each wedge. Cut finger limes, in this case one of pink, one of lime colour lengthwise and distribute 'citrus cavier' over the grapefruit. Ready to eat on a hot day.

 More time... for a semi-frozen dessert?

Granita from Pink Grapefruit decorated with Finger Limes

GET
4 Pink Grapefruit
5 Limes
4 Finger limes
100 ml Orange juice
5 Tsp. Agave syrup

DO
Juice grapefruits and limes. Add flesh. Stir in the syrup with the orange juice, mix in the other citrus juice. Place in freezer. After 30 min. check for ice crystals. Stir with a fork. Repeat the process... A pleasure on a hot day.

After 4 hours distribute into glasses and serve. Decorate with various colours of finger limes or lime wedges.
If you distribute the mixture into  2 - 3 containers it freezes more quickly.

Bunya Potato Salad

get

5 medium to large waxy potatoes
30 bunya nuts
3 sticks celery
3 tbsp hot mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove crushed garlic
250 ml water
6 pepper corns
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp eggless mayonnaise

optional:
3 slices of fresh pineapple

all organic

do

Steam potatoes until soft.
Peel bunyas and remove skin. Boil them in the water with pepper corns and the bay leaf for 60 minutes, then 15 minutes without a lid to reduce the volume of liquid. Let the bunyas cool in the liquid. Remove the bunyas from the pot and set the stock aside. When added to the vegetables, they will soak up the tasty stock, hence requiring only small amounts of mayonnaise.


Peel the potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and slice very thinly. Put in a large ceramic bowl.
Mix the mustard, garlic and olive oil. Add to the potatoes and lift under.
String the celery, cut lengthwise and chop finely. Add to the potatoes and mix in.
Add the bunyas and mix.

Pour in about 75 ml bunya stock and mix. There should be a slight 'puddle'. This will be absorbed with time.
When cool, lift some mayonnaise under the bunya-potato salad.

Optional: Cut the pineapple into small pieces, keep some for decoration and mix the rest in.

Serve with chopped parsley/coriander, a salad and some tofu. Store in a cold place.

The proportion of potatoes to bunyas should be about 2:1.

Bunya Pine Nuts with Aubergine
Bunya Spaghetti Napolitana
Kumera Bunya Soup
Bunya Pine Nuts in Coconut Milk 

More Potato Salads

Dragon fruit - Pitaya Cactus with Lychees

Another fossil fuel powered heatwave calls for just fruit. Pitaya or "dragon fruit" is a night-blooming cactus with an edible fruit of various colours. This Hylocereus is yet again another food developed by Mesoamerican culture.

It has to be just ripe, overripe leaves an unpleasant taste behind. The seeds have a similar crunch to that of the Kiwi. The skin should be bright and even-colored. One can cut it in half and scoop it out (for further dessert processing) or peel it and cut it into chunks. The skin is discarded. When cut into slices, cookie cutters  can make decorative shapes.

The lychee fruit (Litchi chinensis) are best refrigerated and peeled just before consumption. The tastes vary from sweet to sour. Some have very large stones, some hardly any.

Infusion of Raspberries and Passionfruit

get
5 ripe native raspberries
1 ripe passionfruit
Some lemon juice
4 mugs of filtered boiling water

do
Wash berries, scoop out passionfruit and put into a jug. Add a few drops of lemon and pour over the boiling water. Mash fruit a bit with a spoon and allow to stand for 3-5 min with a cover.
Strain into cups (hot) or glasses (when cold) and decorate with some extra berries or lime wedges.

The drink is nice as a hot 'tea', but can also be served cold with endless variations.


See
Queensland Raspberries
Native Raspberry Leaf Tea and Fruit (Rubus rosifolius)
Cold drinks from finger limes or passion fruit