FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Kiwi juice: Golf-course green, tasty
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Around our house, "juice" usually means orange, cranberry or, when we're really going wild, passion orange. So I was intrigued when I learned of a new product that's making its American debut in Hawai'i: kiwi fruit juice from New Zealand-based Nekta.
If you run across it — at Foodland and Sack 'n Save stores — you'll likely stop in your tracks, as I did. This stuff is the green of a perfectly tended golf course. A taster here in the newsroom likened it to wheat grass in color: a vibrant, mossy color.
The flavor is a complex one: both sweet and sour, with a strong fragrance of the bark-like skin of the kiwi fruit. It might be too sophisticated or powerful a taste for young children, but adults with whom I shared the juice over the weekend enjoyed it and immediately began to speculate about its potential for use in mixed drinks. (Indeed, the material I received from Nekta representative Mark Holmwood included recipes for Nekta-based drinks both spiked and not, including a Nekta Colada made with rum and coconut cream and Nekta smoothies made with cantaloupe and banana or lemon juice and fresh mango.)
Nekta is made from the entire fruit, except skin and seeds. The pulped fruit is blended with water, and sugar is added because the juice alone is quite sour. The drink is fortified with Vitamin C and pasteurized.
The statistics: 100 calories per 8-ounce serving, 27 grams of carbohydrate from sugar and 160 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin C. No protein, no sodium, no fat.
In comparison, a name-brand fresh orange juice showed 110 calories per 8-ounce serving, 27 grams of protein of which 24 are from sugar, 2 grams protein, 15 milligrams sodium, no fat and 120 percent of the RDA of Vitamin C, plus 450 milligrams of potassium.
Nekta is on introductory sale for $3.99 a 2-liter bottle (2 quarts, 3.6 fluid ounces); the everyday price will be $5.99.
Speaking of juices, I can't resist mentioning one I've recently fallen in love with, though it appears to be only very sparsely available: It's pomegranate juice, a product very popular in Middle Eastern and Asian communities for its gorgeous crimson color and tangy, refreshing flavor. Odd-shaped bulbous jars of the POM Wonderful brand may lurk in some Safeways in the produce department or it can be ordered at www.pomwonderful.com.
Pomegranate juice is exceptionally high in antioxidants called polyphenols, which are believed to have cancer-fighting power; more than red wine, blueberries, cranberry juice cocktail, even green tea. And it pairs well with food, particularly if it's combined with sparkling water. It is also used to make sauces, glazes and dressings.
