Australian Beverages - Fruit

Fruit

There are many species of Australian native fruits, such as Quandong (native peach), Wattleseed, Muntries / Munthari berry, Illawarra plums, Riberry, Native Raspberries and Lilli pillies. These usually fall under the category of "bush tucker", (bush foods), which are used more commonly in restaurants and used in commercial preserves and pickles but are not generally well known to Australians due to low availability.

Australia also has large fruit growing regions in most states for tropical fruits in the north, stone fruits and temperate fruits in the south which has a mediterranean or temperate climate. The Granny Smith variety of apples first originated in Sydney, Australia in 1868. Another well known Australian apple variety is the Cripps Pink, known locally and internationally as "Pink Lady" apples, which was first cultivated in 1973.

Fruit is widely used in Australian cuisine, but is consumed mostly in its fresh, rather than cooked form with the successful "2 fruit and 5 veg" campaign for healthy portions per day. In terms of cooked fruit dishes, fruits are often eaten poached in sugar syrup (often with spices such as vanilla, cloves or citrus peel) and eaten as a breakfast or dessert, which is more common amongst older Australians, or baked in dishes such as apple crumble, pies, pastries and cakes. Fresh fruit is often consumed simply without any adulteration at any time of day, or combined in fruit salad, which is a popular summer dessert nationally.

Popular and commonly available fruits produced in Australia are: apples, banana, kiwi fruit, oranges and other citrus, mangoes (seasonally), pears, nectarines, plums, apricots, grapes, melons, pawpaw, papaya, pineapple, passionfruit and berry fruits (such as strawberries, raspberries etc.). Other fruits tend not to be widely cultivated due to the plant requiring climate or soil conditions that are not cost effective, or the plant species not being well known to the general market. Many Australian homes in older suburbs will have fruit trees in the garden, mainly citrus and stone fruit, often of old-fashioned "heritage" varieties that are not suitable for commercial production.