Passionfruit

This past weekend, I ended up taking my 19 year old niece out for her first "fancy restaurant" dinner. Went to the Pump Room and it was lovely, with impeccable (as usual) service. She and I were especially fond of the passionfruit sorbet we had for dessert. I've never made anything with passionfruit before and and would love to give it a try at home. I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker, but I'm curious about passionfruit. I assume one would just chop/puree it for the base, but is it very sweet on its own? I'm just wondering about the sugar/syrup to fruit ratio to try and more importantly...is it something in season now that I'd be able to find here?

Thanks for any assistance.

I've already made some lemon-lavender and lemon-basil sorbets this summer with great results (the rhubarb one posted in the icecream maker thread looked great--I'll need to try that!) and my mom said she just picked a quart of raspberries for me from her garden yesterday, so I've got THOSE coming as well! (I have the BEST mom!)

I have never, ever seen fresh passionfruits in Chicago. It's even tough to find passionfruit juice. Ceres makes a decent juice that comes in a shelf stable box. I used to get it at WF...but alas can't find it at the Wheaton store any more. The last time I bought it was at the Jewel in downtown Elmhurst. If you hunt, you might find frozen juice concentrate, you might try markets that cater to central or south American shoppers. Ask for maracuja. Or try places that cater to the South African community, the fruits are also popular there.

Ripe fruits are sweet, not so ripe ones are a bit tart or astringent, not as much as star fruit but a bit.

If you find fruits, split the skin and scoop out the flesh with a spoon to eat them. They are juicy.

Or call the Australian Consulate. Australia's best-known dessert, the Pavolova, is topped with passionfruit, so they might know where you can get it.

It's quite tart, and has tons of seeds, however, so juice, puree, or concentrate of some sort may be a better bet than fresh, anyway.

I know I've seen fresh passionfruit somewhere - I'm guessing it was Marketplace on Oakton. If they have them, I'm sure it would only be in season, and I can't help you with what the season might be.

Passion fruit is only available during the months of June/July. The only grocer that carries them that I am aware of is Armitage Produce, 3334 W. Armitage Produce, Chicago, IL. They are a delicacy for Puertoricans. They call them Maracuya. Armitage Produce is the #1 Puerto Rican grocery store in Chicago. Check them out. It will be worth your trip. Located at the corner of Armitage and Kimball.

Cynthia wrote:Or call the Australian Consulate. Australia's best-known dessert, the Pavolova, is topped with passionfruit, so they might know where you can get it.

It's quite tart, and has tons of seeds, however, so juice, puree, or concentrate of some sort may be a better bet than fresh, anyway.

But it's important to remember that the seeds contain a lot of flavor, so don't let that discourage you!

I've previously bought the juice/nectar at Treasure Island on Broadway, though haven't looked for it in the last year or so.

I've seen passionfruits at Harvestime and Fox & Obel

Harvestime Foods:
2632 W Lawrence Ave

Fox & Obel:
Grand Ave & McClurg Ct

I've never understood why its so difficult to find passionfruit here - they are all over the place in the UK as is Pavlova using them (I've hardly ever seen Pavlova served here). If you find them - greek yoghurt, passionfruit & honey sprinkled with almonds. Yum.

Fox & Obel is the place where I have bought passionfruit. The pulp is exceptionally flavorful, but not too sweet, so it takes a lot of sweetness to balance the pucker.
A number of years ago in Italy, I had fresh passion fruit split and doused with honey served with a flute of Prosecco. On a rocky beach at sunset, no less! Alas, Marcello Mastroiani stood me up that night, the cad!

I've never tried them, but Goya produces frozen fruit purees including passion fruit. That might be an alternative if you cannot locate fresh.

Diannie wrote:I have never, ever seen fresh passionfruits in Chicago. It's even tough to find passionfruit juice. C

While not easy to find, I have certainlly seen fresh passion fruit in a number of stores. However, the fruits are expensive, and each fruit only yields a small amount of pulp.

I would, instead, check out the frozen food section in one of the larger Hispanic stores. I have seen frozen pulp for many exotic fruits including passion fruit.

Jyoti

Thanks so much, everyone. I will probably be on the hunt today!

sarcon wrote:I've seen passionfruits at Harvestime and Fox & Obel

Harvestime Foods:
2632 W Lawrence Ave

Fox & Obel:
Grand Ave & McClurg Ct

Thanks for the tip. I just purchased Goya frozen passion fruit pulp at HarvesTime . . . $2.29 for a 14oz. package. I needed it to make a passion fruit meringue tart and I was a little nervous about being able to find it.

At the South American grocery store/restaurant on Devon (probably about 1300-1400, south side of street)-- why can't I recall the name-- famous on LTH for the Cuban sandwiches-- La Unica! -- wonderful frozen fruit juices/concentrates in the freezer. I made excellent passionfruit (maracuya) sorbet as well as other flavors-- mora (blackberry) and I think guanabana (never heard a translation for this). Inexpensive and very tasty.

I have seen passion fruit at Whole Foods (Peterson?). But it was so small and dried up looking and very expensive, so I never bought it. I made passionfruit juice once in Ecuador, at the direction of the lady of the household where my son was living. Maracuya juice was my favorite, I had been drinking it in cafes all week, so I was very excited to make it myself. She whacked two maracuyas the size of large grapefruits off at the top, and gave me a large spoon to scoup out the insides. I doubled over with laughter because the inside looked a lot like fish eggs, and not the kind I would want to eat, either. Very gross!! Luckily I knew I loved the stuff, so I scouped it into a blender. She put in quite a bit of sugar (if I were doing it at home I'd use a bit less) and water, and turned the blender on. After a minute or so, I poured the mix through a sieve, and presto, excellent maracuya juice.

Just thinking about it makes me want to go back to Ecuador. The last day there, we bought some of every fruit we didn't recognize at the grocery, and took them home to the lady of the house, who told us what they were and how to eat them. My favorite was uvillas, which looked more or less like large orange cherry tomatoes, but had a fruit taste that was fabulous. Because they were eaten skin and all, according to my guidebook, I should not have eaten them, but I threw caution to the winds and ate quite a few, with no bad effects. According to internet research after I got back, they don't travel well and are not sold outside Ecuador. Very sad.

One last comment on the sorbet-- I made quite a bit last summer-- the frozen juice always seemed better than anything I found in a carton or bottle.

tgoddess: i dont know where you live, but el condor on milwaukee ave. in chicago (2349 north), is a little ecudorean grocery that sells frozen fruit purees, including passionfruit. also pete's markets, there are several, carry it. these frozen purees are inexpensive and very concentrated. much better than juice. justjoan

Patel Brothers has 'em:
or, they did earlier in the week.

PATEL BROTHERS
2610 W.DEVON AVENUE
CHICAGO, IL 60659 -
Tel: 773.262.7777
Fax: 773.262.7914