WHAT'S IN Season: PASSIONFRUIT

A passionfruit vine growing on a trellis has long been a feature in many Australian backyards. Its fragrant fruit is not only a delicacy in itself, but it has a unique ability to enhance the flavour of other fruits.

FRUIT

• Apricots
• Berries: blackberries strawberries
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Melons: honeydew rockmelon watermelon
• Nectarines
• Oranges: Valencia Passionfruit

VEGETABLES

• Beans
• Beetroot
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Chillies
• Kumara (orange sweet potato)
• Leeks
• Okra
• Spring onions
• Sweetcorn
• Tomatoes

Nothing says summer like passionfruit and, despite challenging conditions for growers, this season will be no different, with a large volume of high-quality produce now available. Australian-grown passionfruit is available year-round, but there are two main supply peaks – summer and winter. The passionfruit’s tough shell encloses perfumed, intensely flavoured, tangy yet sweet pulp. The common variety, which is also the most fragrant, is small, round and purple-skinned, while Panama passionfruit, a large, round, light purple/ red-skinned cultivar, is almost as good. The long, yellow variety, known as banana passionfruit, is less tangy, while the yellow-skinned round variety has the least perfume of all.

CHOOSING

Go for plump and smooth fruit that’s heavy for its size – which means it will have more pulp inside.

STORING