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Summer Guava Drink

I grew up drinking guava nectar, my first real introduction being rare, but exciting trips to a Puerto Rican corner store with my mother. She would spoil me with tiny bananas, coconut candies and other goodies not found in our neighborhood stores. Opening up a can of Goya drinks, be them mango, pera (pear), or guyaba (guava) would evoke a keen sense of exotica in my mind. I knew instinctively at a young age that these flavors flourished in a place my mother loved, a place I was somehow connected to.

To this day, when I smell these fruits, I’m instantly taken back to the days spent excitedly waiting to see my abuelo (grandfather) in the barrio (neighborhood) where he made sure we had whatever Puerto Rican delicacies we craved; and to the moments my abuela (grandmother) stepped out of the plane as she arrived from San Juan, with piles of pasteles (savory meat tamales wrapped in banana leaves) and dulce de guyaba (guava candy) para los niños (for the kids).

I am fortunate enough, alhamdullilah (thank God), to live in a city like Chicago where I can find just about any Caribbean fruit and product I crave from my childhood. Recently, I found the guava pictured here. I have to admit- I bought them simply because of the nostalgia that the smell stirred inside of me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with them, other than embrace the memories of my childhood and some of the people I love the most.

When you can find it ripe, guava should have a lovely, fresh, almost flowery scent. Just be sure to strain the drink with a fine sieve or you may be crunching on the seeds as you drink.

I did end up making this delicious drink, a recipe I think you’ll find refreshing and flavorful. What foods evoke your childhood memories?

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 medium grapefruit

2 small yellow guavas

¼ cup orange juice

1 tsp. powdered sugar

1/8 cup water

 

Directions

  1. Remove all the outer tough skin from the grapefruit and the white skin underneath it. Remove the seeds, too, otherwise the drink will be very bitter.

  2. Remove the stem from the guava and wash the outer part very well. There is no need to remove the skins.

  3. Add all the ingredients to a blender and combine on high speed for about 30 seconds- 1 minute. (To make this drink cold, add some ice before blending)

  4. Pour the drink through a fine sieve or strainer before drinking in order to remove the hard seeds of the guava.

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  1. Placing this on my lists of “must try” I was wondering could the powdered sugar be substituted with honey?

  2. The photos looks good. We also have guava drink here in Philippines. May I suggest that instead using sugar directly, make a syrup out of it (you know, melt the sugar in boiling water then stir) because sugar will not blend properly in fruit drinks and it will settle down eventually resulting to a constant stir every few minutes. Just a thought to share. If you wont mind I’d love to guide Foodista readers to your post. Just add the foodista widget to the end of this post so it will appear in the Foodista pages and it’s all set, Thanks!

  3. You’ve totally evoked childhood memories of summers in Egypt with the my late aunts and grandmum. The guava was so ripe and sweet, it need nothing but a whirl in the blender with some ice and the sweet perfume filled the air like no other fruit could do – even the mango! Although it was hard to choose between the two 🙂
    Ramadhan Mubarak Yvonne – glad I stopped by today!

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