A Brief History of Guavas and Our Split Bean Coffee Guava Products

A Brief History of Guavas and Our Split Bean Coffee Guava Products

One of the most abundant of fruit trees, the guava treee is almost universally known by its common English name or its equivalent in other languages. In Spanish, the tree is called guayabo, or guayavo, the fruit guayaba or guyava. In French it known as goyave or goyavier; in Portuguese, goiaba or goaibeira. Hawaiians call it guava or kuawa. It is also called by numerous dialectal names in India, tropical Africa and the Philippines where it is know as bayabas. Various tribal names–pichi, posh, enandi, etc.–are employed among the Indians of Mexico and Central and South America.

Origin

The guava is believed to have been cultivated by man for at least the past two thousand years. A native fruit/tree of Central America, it fairs best in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. It is common throughout the tropical America and in the West Indies, and southern Florida where it it is believed to have been introduced in the mid 1800's.

Early Spanish and Portuguese colonizers introduced it to the East Indies during their voyages to the Eastern Colonies. It was soon adopted as a crop in Asia and in warm parts of Africa. Egyptians have grown it for a long time and it may have traveled from Egypt to Palestine. Guavas are occasionally seen in Algeria and on the Mediterranean coast of France. In India, guava cultivation has been estimated at 125,327 acres (50,720 ha) yielding 27,319 tons annually.

Guavas were introduced to Hawaii until the early 1800's. Now it occurs throughout the Pacific islands. Generally, it is a home fruit tree or planted in small groves, except in India where it is a major commercial resource. Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil are three of the major guava producers in the American continent.

There are over 15 commercially available types of guavas and they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but one thing is unique to all guavas, and that is the sweet intoxication aroma produce by this wonderful fruit.

Common Food Uses

Guavas can be eaten raw or may be cooked in preserves. In Latin America one of the most popular ways of perparing guavas, it to tewed guava shells (cascos de guayaba), that is, guava halves with the central seed pulp removed, strained and added to the shells while cooking to enrich the syrup. They are often served with a soft fresh cheese.

Guavas are also used to make candy bars; made with a rich guava paste and guava cheese are staple sweets, and guava jelly is almost universally available.

Split Bean Coffee's Alfajores la Mision and our White Chocolate covered Guava Treats are made with 100% Natural guava paste from Brazil. After testing several forms of guava paste, we decided that the Brazilian Guava paste held the best complemental charecteristics for our treats. We carry Guava filled alfajores (Traditional Style), as well as White Chocolate Covered Guava Alfajores and a limited selection of Guava Treats covered in White Chocolate.

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