KIWI
Kiwi is a fruit with a brown hairy skin and a green flesh with white core and numerous black seeds. Its flavor is unique, and resembles a blend of citrus fruits and strawberries. Kiwi is available throughout the year, but it simply depends on the fact that it is distributed seasonally throughout the different places in the world. For example, New Zealand harvests their kiwifruits from june to october, while the Californian kiwi is in season from november to may. Kiwi is a very attractive fruit, not only for its flavor, but also for the looks - a slice of kiwi on cakes or fruit salads will immediately convey a feeling of an exotic dish and it will simply make the dish more esthetically appreciating.
The name "kiwi" refers to the native bird of New Zealand, and was introduced when the fruit became a big marketing hit around the world, not a very long time ago. The vine that produces kiwifruits is called Actinidia deliciosa, stems from China, and is the one that gives the typical green kiwis. There is also another species, called Actinidia chinensis that has a yellow flesh. Since kiwis a climacteric fruits, they can be and are usually harvested before they ripen, and are then allowed to ripen spontaneously in cold storage rooms. The process that goes on inside the kiwi is the typical ripening process where the starch is digested into simple sweet sugars, and the flesh becomes softer as they are transferred into room temperature. The good thing is that the sweetening process can be allowed to go on for several months (in the cold) and the kiwifruits can then be made available for the customers.
A tricky part of kiwi in cooking is its high content of an enzyme that breaks down proteins (actinidin). This enzyme is also irritating in the mouth and throat of some people who understandably cannot eat kiwi. One way to get rid of the enzyme is to destroy its activity by cooking the fruit. However, cooked kiwi is not that fantastic as in its raw form. Kiwi also contains another irritant called calcium oxalate that many people cannot stand for the same reason that they cannot tolerate the protein-digesting enzyme. Oxalates also create problems for people who have kidney stone or gallbladder stone problems, and they should consequently be avoided in such cases.
Nutritionally though, besides the above mentioned disadvantages that some people suffer from, kiwi is a great source of vitamin C (one fruit gives almost one day's recommended dose of vitamin C). Kiwi also has some fibers, and ions like copper and potassium. In addition, this fruit gives a lot of other antioxidants that protect against development of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
When you buy kiwis you can either buy them when they are hard and let them ripen in room temperature of your home, or you can buy them when they are fairly soft and eat them directly. If you want to speed up the ripening process, put the kiwis together with bananas or pears. When selecting kiwis, avoid the ones with lesions and blemishes, and also do not pick the very soft fruits as they are overripened. Remember that if you put the kiwi together with some other ingredients, its protein-digestive enzyme will eventually break down and "mess up" the food. It is therefore wise to add the kiwis at the very end of the dish preparation.
Kiwi is good with other fruits, like bananas, apples, strawberries, lemon, or lime. It can be also eaten with nuts, or with honey.