GUAVA Fabric in Pink

For many in South Florida, pink guava tastes like childhood. Not so long ago, pink guava trees dotted the landscape and the fruit was a staple of regional cooking. It was found in pastries, milkshakes and ice cream as well as marinades, jellies and preserves. To some, pink guava juice was known as the “nectar of the gods.” But by the mid twentieth century, real estate development, hurricanes and trade deals, not to mention fruit flies, had decimated Florida’s pink guava trees. Imported guava products replaced local guava, and the distinctive sweet flavor of pink guava began to disappear. But today a small group of farmers in the Redland, the agricultural belt between Miami and the Everglades, is growing pink guava once again as part of the local food movement. Thanks to their efforts, the sweet memory and flavor of pink guava is returning to South Florida cuisine. Guava’s motifs, including the guava-loving yellow-chevroned parakeet, were inspired by Raoul Dufy’s expressive woodcuts for Apollinaire’s collection of poems, The Bestiary, a celebration of animals and the natural world.