Zespri Kiwifruit Dinner

As you may have seen in your local supermarket, the Zespri kiwifruit season is here once again! About this time last year, Zespri organised a Blogger Dinner at Heart Bistro. This year, they have launched the first-ever 14-Day Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge and invited the bloggers to the Kick-off dinner at The Living Cafe yesterday.

In a nutshell, this Challenge has been created to help me get creative with kiwifruit. I will be given 2 weeks’ worth of kiwifruit and I will create some yummy, kiwi dishes from it. I am sure you have seen my Kiwi Butter Cake a few days ago. Yup, there will be more within the next two weeks! And at the end of the 2 weeks, there will be a special Zespri GIVEAWAY for all of you!

Do you know, Kiwi is actually originated from China and not New Zealand! In the early 1900s, Mary Isabel Fraser visited China and tasted kiwi for the first time. She likes it so much that she decided to bring the seeds back to New Zealand and started growing her crops at 1910. Today, New Zealand produces one-third of the world supply of kiwi fruit.

When you think of Vitaminc C, the first fruit you think of is probably oranges. Do you know, kiwi has 2 times the Vitamin C of oranges and 5 times the nutrients of apples! I say this because I have done my research!

We are always encouraged to have at least 3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. But do you know, that is not enough! Pooja, the nutritionist from The Nutrition Clinic, said in order to be optimally healthy, you have to eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday! One kiwi accounts for 1 serving and a cup of vegetables is also counted as 1 serving.

So guys, take a moment and think how many servings of fruits and vegetables you have today?

A raw food diet has been growing over the past few years. I was first exposed to it when I had a meal in Green Room Cafe @ Bishan Park. When we say we are eating raw food, it doesn’t necessary mean raw kiwi only. It means eating a healthy dish which is either organic, uncooked or unprocessed food. So this includes things like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds etc.

The Living Cafe specially created a kiwi menu for us yesterday night. It started with Raw Bruschetta served with pesto and Kiwi Salsa, decorated with parsley. The simple bite size appetiser is simply hard to resist. The tangy sweetness from the green kiwi and the sourness from the tomatoes is a perfect combinations. The only small complain here, I find it too watery.

There is nothing more refreshing than this chilled Raw Kiwi and Apple Gazpacho. The sourness of the kiwi soup is sweetened by the apples while the onions give it a slight punch.

Grilled Salmon was stuffed with cauliflower puree, served with mixed salad and kiwi citrus. The light cauliflower puree was a good complement to the rich grilled salmon. The wild rocket was mixed with some sesame dressing.

Raw Kiwi Pie was a unique dessert. The tart is made from nuts, as much as I wished the white part is made from cream cheese, it was actually made from nut milk. It is basically milk made from nuts. Nut milk can be a delicious alternative to dairy milk. You can use it to make pudding, certain frozen dairy treats or they can simply drink it straight up. It was as soft as tofu! However, it was too sourish for my liking.

We ended the night with some Zespri Kiwifruit. As you can see, there are two colours of the kiwi meat. The classic Zespri Green Kiwifruit is also known as the Hayward variety and is the most commonly recognised and popular kiwifruit worldwide. Gold Kiwifruit, on the other hand, was naturally bred from one seedling planted in 1992.

Green Kiwifruit is a tangy, sweet and sour combination of invigorating flavours, while the gold one has smooth, hairless skin which is bronze in colour. Its golden flesh has a sweet, tropical taste and is a real favourite with both children and adults.

Here’s a shot of us after our dinner! Zespri kiwi is available in all supermarkets, for more information please visit www.zespri.com.sg

Don’t forget that we need to have 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day!