Australia's Wild Peach, the quandong

Quandongs were much valued for their medicinal properties.

A beautiful colour, they look like a tamarillo, and they are fleshy and chewy and tart. They work really well with duck, and would be great in curries and perfect with slow-roasted lamb shoulder. And of course they make a wonderful tart and / or jam.

Early settlers discovered this native fruit very early with Quandong Pie becoming a much loved staple of their menu. Of course they were already well known and highly valued by the first nations people who dried them and carried them as they traversed the outback hunting kangaroo and emu. On unsuccessful hunting days quandong became a meat substitute.

The Quandong tree likes to keep company with Wattleseed trees so for those with OCD their straggly appearance will not be welcome :-)

Quandong seeds were also used to make pieces for games like Chinese Checkers. They are used a lot in native jewellery and if you crack open the outer casing you will find a kernel that can be used to grind into powder for cooking or mixed with saliva for use as hair conditioning oil.

Quandong Paste makes a lovely gift for those who enjoy cheese platters and is very easy to make:

100gm dried quandong
400gm sugar
juice of one lime

Cover the quandong with water and soak for a minimum of one hour.
Cook until tender (about 30 minutes). Strain
Puree the fruit and place in a pot with sugar and lime juice.
Cook for approx half an hour until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thickened.
Then pour into moulds and allow to cool before covering.