Pineapple Guava Odessa Cocktail

A Recipe from Laurence Hauben of Santa Barbara

While I hate to lose summer’s produce, fall brings some of my very favorite fruit. This time of year, I buy huge bags of persimmons (the small firm ones, like the popular fuyu variety), search out the best apples (we’re partial to Envys and Fujis), and snack on all kinds of grapes.

But my absolute favorite fall fruit is the pineapple guava. So I was totally thrilled when Laurence Hauben (who shared her story of moving to CA from France with us last summer) sent me a recipe for a gorgeous cocktail that makes excellent use of this aromatic treat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Pineapple Guava Odessa Cocktail

Pineapple guavas are a food that I took for granted as a kid. These aromatic fruits (known as feijoa in Brazil, where they’re very popular) grow all over California, and you’ll often find them in backyards where the plant itself (which produces gorgeous red blooms earlier in the year) makes a great hedge. So I was shocked when I moved to New York and found that most people—including my colleagues at one of the country’s top food magazines—had never even heard of it.

Growing up, I don’t think I ever saw these fruits for sale; we just ate them straight from friends’ trees. These days, I pick them up at farmers markets (though I still grab a few from my neighbor’s yard). A few weeks ago, my daughter talked me into buying a tiny bush, so by this time next year, she’ll be able to harvest them in our own yard. (I just hope she leaves some for me.)

Last fall, the amazing Laurence Hauben (whose partner grows the fruits at Penryn Orchard Specialties) sent me a cocktail recipe using this amazing fruit :

“The other day, inspiration struck as I had just gathered an armload of pineapple guavas in my garden. I came up with a new drink. I am calling it the Odessa after the Black Sea resort, because Russians are crazy about this aromatic fruit, which Georgians used to ship to Moscow in the days of the Soviet Union.”

½ cup fresh feijoa (pineapple guava) pulp
1½ ounces vodka
1½ tablespoons simple syrup (made from equal parts hot water and white sugar and cooled)
¾ cup crushed ice

Put the fruit pulp, vodka, simple syrup, and ice into a blender. Blend to a slush and serve immediately.

Bonus: Pineapple Guava-Infused Vodka

In the same email, Laurence also shared a phenomenal way of using up the rinds from all the guavas I eat during the fall: infusing them into vodka. I followed her instructions, adding more rinds throughout the month, and then kind of forgot about the jar for a while. When I dug it out of the back of my cabinet a couple months later, the liquor was incredibly aromatic and flavorful. I strained out the fruit, stored the liquid in the fridge, and drank it with a little simple syrup, some lemon juice, and a splash of seltzer all year long. Obviously, I started this year’s jar as soon as the fruit started showing up in the market.

Method: After scooping the pulp out of the guava, put the rinds in a jar and add enough vodka to cover. Let infuse for 1-2 months.

Photo: Georgia Freedman