It took about three weeks for the psychosis to really set in, but here it is! Richard and I are obsessed with eating kiwi fruit.

The last time we were in visiting this country, we discovered the wonder that is New Zealand-grown kiwis. The fruit originated in China where it was picked from the wild and was first commercially grown in New Zealand in the early 20th century. According to the Center for New Crops & Plant Products at Purdue University, the fruit became popular with American serviceman stationed in New Zealand in World War II and it started to be exported to the U.S. after that.

We both grew up eating kiwis on occasion. They were a tangy treat, usually firm from their trip across the Pacific Ocean. We were eating Fuzzy Kiwifruit. There are many varieties of the plant, but the type with a furry skin and green fruit are most common in the U.S.

These are also very common in New Zealand, along with kiwi berries — green, grape-sized fruits with thin, smooth skins and green flesh; they taste similarly to fuzzy kiwis — and golden kiwis.

Golden kiwis have a bronze, smooth skin and green to yellow flesh. They taste sweeter and have a stronger scent than fuzzy kiwis. But, they have a shorter shelf life and so have not yet made the leap across the Pacific for commercial sale.

It is these golden kiwis which have taken over our diets. Numbers that lasted us a week when we got here, now last only a day.

They’re awesome and I can’t recommend them highly enough!