Kiwis are the quintessential fall and early-winter fruit. Right now, in December, they are finishing their season and are ready for their final ripening, when the hard fruits soften and become sweeter and more aromatic.
By January, any kiwis you find in stores generally will have been in cold storage for awhile and have sweetened a bit as some starches have turned to sugar. But, like the fresh fruits of December, they’ll still need the final room-temperature ripening, which takes a week to 10 days.
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We haven’t been enamored of kiwis for that long. Before the 1970s, kiwis could sometimes be found at specialty shops, championed by a New Zealand marketing campaign, but they were rare and exotic.
Kiwis ripen in November and December in northern temperate climates. Today, about 90% of the kiwis we enjoy here are grown in California. When California plantings of the varieties called Hayward and Chico Hayward appeared in the early 1980s, it was California, not New Zealand, that captured the American market. Hayward is still the main variety of green-flesh kiwi grown in California.
Kiwis are native to the Yangtze River Valley of northern China, but they grow beautifully in our San Francisco Bay Area. Occasionally, however, unseasonably mild winters may not give the vines enough winter chill to flower well.
They are exotic no more, of course, having taken their place among the wealth of fruits we enjoy. Their bright emerald color and flavor reminiscent of gooseberries and strawberries makes them a welcome addition to winter mixed-fruit medleys. Their edgy acidity makes them a nice contrast with bananas. Their pretty color makes slices of peeled kiwifruit perfect for topping tarts and cheesecakes, and chunks of sweet ripe kiwi can be added to plain yogurt.
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As for nutrition, kiwifruit has good stores of vitamin C. Three ounces provide almost twice the daily requirement for an adult.
Besides the fuzzy kiwis we find in the store, there are more cold-hardy types, notably vines of Actinidia arguta, which can withstand continental winters. Recently it’s been developed from a novelty into an economically important crop. The fruits are small, about the size of large table grapes, and the skins are edible and smooth. It was an enthusiast’s crop, planted around North America by backyard fruit growers, until Mark Hurst of Hurst’s Berry Farm in Sheridan, Oregon, planted a large acreage and began to market the small fruits as Baby Kiwi in the late 1990s. These fruits are in season from September through November, so if you’ve missed them this year, make a mental note to check Hurst’s website at hbfberries.com next September.
In California, most Hayward kiwifruit ripens in November or December, with some sold fresh and others held for months in controlled storage. They are hard and unyielding to finger pressure until they ripen, when they have a slight give. If you find only hard ones, that week to 10 days on the windowsill should relax and sweeten them.
If you find that kiwis irritate your mouth or throat, that’s most likely because they contain crystals of insoluble calcium oxalate, which pureeing, juicing or drying can make more bothersome. Spinach, chard, beets, amaranth and rhubarb also contain oxalates, so eat these foods in moderation if you notice irritation of the mouth.
This sorbet is excessively delicious. You’ll need an ice-cream maker for this dish.
Kiwi-Strawberry-Lime Sorbet
Makes approximately 1 quart
2 cups sugar
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1 cup water
2 pints fresh strawberries, destemmed
4 peeled ripe kiwifruit, rough chopped
Juice of three limes
Make a simple syrup by bringing the water to a boil, adding the sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, then letting this mixture cool to room temperature.
In a blender, blend 1 cup of the simple syrup with the strawberries, kiwis and lime juice until you have a smooth puree.
Transfer to the ice-cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If your ice-cream maker produces a rather loose sorbet, transfer it to a covered plastic container cooled in the freezer and put the sorbet into the freezer overnight so it’s firm and very cold for serving.
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