If you’ve never tasted loquat, you’re in for a treat. The fruit is sweet and bursting with juice. ‘A flavoursome blend of apricot, plum and cherry with floral overtones’ according to one descriptor, and quite true.
Loquat trees used to adorn our grandparents’ backyards but not such a familiar sight these days.
I have several loquat trees – all borne from the same plant as they seem to self-seed like wild-fire! Possums and birds love them, so be sure to get to the ripened fruit before they do.
Harvesting right now (November) each yellow fruit houses a quadrant of smooth brown stones. They are ever-so-easy to remove and still makes for a delicious fruit base for preserving.
Enjoyed fresh, I have also preserved a few kilograms and created a savoury Loquat Sauce, as read in my trusty Digby Law’s Pickle & Chutney cookbook, which I will share with you now.
The sauce itself is unusual due to the mix of spices and flavourings. In fact virtually any kind of stone fruit could be used instead, but the texture of the fruit will have some bearing on the thickness or indeed thinness of the sauce. It is most delicious as a BBQ sauce or basting marinade.
Loquat Sauce
Makes: approx 2 litres
Ingredients
- 2kg loquats
- 6 + 1/2 cups malt vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 250g onions, finely chopped
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp treacle
- 1 Tbsp curry powder
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
- 1 Tbsp salt
Method
- In a large saucepan combine the loquats (skin on, stone in) with 6 cups of malt vinegar, garlic and onions. Boil until the fruit is very soft then push as much as possible through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and skins.
- Clean the saucepan then return the liquid to the pan and bring back to the boil. Add sugar, treacle the stir until dissolved. Bring back to the boil.
- Combine remaining ingredients and mix to a smooth paste with the extra 1/2 cup vinegar. Slowly stir into the saucepan, then boil for a further 15 minutes.
- Pour into hot, clean preserving bottles and seal.
Enjoy!
