How to Eat Guava
Plus, how to buy, store and serve this aromatic tropical fruit.
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Perhaps you’ve noticed guava at your local supermarket or are familiar with this tropical fruit’s aromatic flavor. For more info, we consulted Barbara Sibley, CEO and chef-owner of Mexican restaurants La Palapa and La Palapa Taco Bar, and creative director of Holiday Cocktail Lounge in New York City.
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What Is Guava?
Guava are small, intensely aromatic tropical fruits with a thick, edible grainy skin and a fleshy interior packed with small, edible seeds. Guavas can be eaten fresh, juiced or made into fruit pastes, jams or preserves.
Guava are native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and parts of South America. “Guavas can be round, oval or pear shaped. When ripe, some guava may have green skin and pink interior, or they can be uniformly pale yellow and almost any combination of these colors,” Sibley says. “Some ripen to an intoxicating sweetness and there are guavas in the Amazon and South America that remain sour and are mostly used to make a tangy drink.”
Sibley also shares that “Guavas are used in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean in traditional herbal medicine to combat inflammation, stomach ailments and lung disease, to lower fever and to treat wounds. In addition, in Mexico rubbing guavas around bed legs is said to repel bed bugs!”
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How to Eat Guava
You can eat guava fresh, juiced or in fruit pastes or preserves. Guava’s skin, flesh and seeds are all edible. “Eating a fresh guava takes a bit of technique as the thick skin is delicious as is the creamy pulp that surrounds the seeds,” Sibley says. “The seeds are edible, but it takes some practice as, like a blackberry, they are usually swallowed whole and not chewed which would lead to seeds stuck between the teeth.”
To eat ripe, fresh guava, Sibley advises to first wash and dry the fruit. Next, trim off the top where the remaining sepals can sometimes be tough and the bottom where the stem attachment is. Guavas may be cut into slices or simply bitten into. “Depending on the guava, the seeds will fill the cavity under the thick skin or there will be more pulp. In any case, the key is to swallow the seeds whole,” Sibley says.
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How to Eat Guava Paste and Guava Juice
“Guava paste is eaten as candy, poached in syrup, in pastry turnovers, or pasteles or empanadas, as juice, in licuados or smoothies, in ponche navideño, a steaming fruit punch typical of the Christmas posada season, sweet tamale filling, guava mole, in cocktails, in savory salads, jams and marmalades and rolled paper thin as fruit leather,” Sibley says.
“Juiced guava is sold in markets and street carts as a refreshing agua fresca. A trendy guava roll is made by Michelin starred chef Elena Reygadas in her Mexico City Rosetta Bakery," Sibley adds.
What Does Guava Taste Like?
Sibley describes guava’s taste as like “the creamiest vanilla, grainy pear and slight bitterness of pomegranate.”
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How to Serve Guava
Guava are a versatile fruit and can work well in sweet and sweet-savory recipes. Here, Sibley shares some common serving suggestions for guava.
Serve Guava Paste with Cheese
Guava paste makes an excellent addition to a cheese board and pairs well with salty, creamy and funky cheeses alike. Or try stuffing guava paste into cheese empanadas for a flaky, sweet-savory bite.
Make a Guava Sauce
Juice or blend guava to use in sauce recipes, such as salad dressings, marinades or dipping sauces for savory fried fare. Or try mixing guava sauce into barbecue sauce or ketchup to add a tropical sweetness to condiments. “When using guava in a sauce or juice, it is important to strain the blended guavas as you will have pieces of the seeds that are too hard to add to a sauce,” Sibley says.
Use Guava Shells in Baking and Preserves
Gut the guava in half, scoop out the flesh and discard the seeds; you’ll be left with just the guava shell, aka casco de guayaba. “These can be used as any fruit in baking and preserved in jams or marmalades. They will have the distinctive light grainy texture of that part of the guava,” Sibley says. “My favorite dish is one I had many years ago at a fabulous restaurant called The Ballroom by the brilliant Chef Felipe Rojas Lombardi. The recipe poaches guava shells in a saffron syrup. The mixture of aromatic and almost floral flavors match beautifully. I serve a lightly salted crema Mexicana alongside to balance the sweet syrup.”
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How to Pick Out Ripe Guava
To pick out ripe guava, first assess its smell; as they ripen, guava become more aromatic. Sibley also notes that ripe guava should feel heavy in the hand and the flesh should give slightly when pressed. “Often, the guavas are a deeper yellow and occasionally can have small black spots which are fine and not an indication of spoilage,” she says. “But overripe guavas will have bruised and almost translucent areas where the thick skin is breaking down. The smell may even veer toward a fermenting funk.”
Avoid rock-hard guavas with no smell, as they will be “acidic, hard and tasteless,” Sibley says. She adds, “Eating many unripe guavas can be very hard on the digestive system.”
How to Ripen Guava
Guavas ripen best on the kitchen counter with other fruits. “Storing bananas or apples in the same bowl with guava will hasten the ripening process,” Sibley says. “Keep a close eye on them once they ripen so they don’t over ripen.”
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How to Store Guava
Store guava on the counter at room temperature or in the refrigerator. “Storing guavas really depends on how long you would like to keep them and what your plan is for the fruit,” Sibley says. “They can withstand going from refrigerator to ripening bowl and back again unlike some fruits. Guavas, other than being dry when stored, don’t require special handling.” If you plan on eating the fruit fresh, the flavors will be more intense if the guava is room temperature.
How to Store Cut Guava
“A cut guava will last about 3 days in the refrigerator,” Sibley says. “It is a good idea to place the cut side down in a non-reactive container because although the fruit doesn’t oxidize like an apple does, it will break down and dry out if cut. They can also be placed in a non-reactive container and covered with plastic film.”
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