Lilly pillies are the most important berry fruits native to Australia. Popular with Aboriginal people, they were quickly taken up by white colonists, who appreciated their refreshing, lightly acid flavour and their value in the diet. Nutrient levels vary across different varieties, but analyses have shown good amounts of Vitamin C and magnesium, and a range of additional vitamins and minerals. There are over thirty species of these rainforest trees, some with rather floury, flavourless berries but many with a delectable fruity taste and crisp texture. Several species are common in garden and street plantings, valued for their handsome foliage, frothy white flowers and showers of handsome red, purple, pink or white berries.
My favourite for cooking is the Small-Leaved Lilly Pilly, Syzygium luehmannii, which about Christmas time bears little red, pear-shaped berries with a pleasant flavour spiced with clove and soft, edible seeds. The cloves used in cooking are a species of Syzygium from the Moluccas. Also recommended are the Magenta Lilly Pilly Syzygium paniculatum (larger magenta-coloured fruit with big round seeds), the Blue Lilly Pilly Syzygium oleosum (or coolminianum) (purple blue berries) and the Creek Lilly Pilly Syzygium australe (cerise). All the white-fruited lilly pillies are insipid, in my experience, and the reader will notice that the common lilly pilly Acmena smithii is not on the list – nothing more than skin and stone. Grow it if you wish for decoration, but don’t expect to eat it.
Greatest of bush cookery writers, Mina Rawson, bringing up her family in the Wide Bay area of Queensland in the late 1800s, experimented with a huge variety of native foods, including lilly pillies. She describes what to do with them in The Australian Enquiry Book of Household and General Information, published in 1894:
What the children call Lilly Pilly is a bright red berry growing in the scrubs on a very tall, glossy-leafed tree. It also makes a good preserve. While rather acid to eat raw, they have a very pleasant sharpness when properly preserved. They require a pound to a pound of sugar, or even more. Like native currants they make a good summer drink.
Preparation
Discard any stalks from the lilly pillies, wash them and drain in a colander.
Lilly Pilly Jelly
Makes about 5 x 250 g (8 oz) jars
This is the classic lilly pilly recipe.
1 kg (2 lb) small-leaved lilly pillies or 2 kg (4 lb) creek lilly pillies
4 cups water
1 kg (2 lb) sugar
- Place the lilly pillies in a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil over a moderate flame and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes until soft. Let cool.
- When the fruit is cool enough to handle, strain through a jelly bag or 2 layers of flannelette lining a sieve. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Place the liquid in a preserving pan or large wide-mouthed saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Stir in the sugar. Bring to a rapid boil again, stirring, and skim off any scum that forms on the surface. Boil until jam set, about 20-30 minutes. To test, deposit a teaspoon of jam on a saucer which has been chilled in the freezer. Place near an open window to cool for a couple of minutes. Gently push the jelly with your finger: the surface should crinkle noticeably. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
Lilly Pilly Summer Drink
Serves 2
This is inspired by Mina Rawson’s ‘good summer drink’. She does not say how to prepare it, so I have adapted the recipe from other fruit coolers that she gives. It is, indeed, a very refreshing beverage of a lovely rose-pink hue.
2 cups lilly pillies (e.g., Syzygium luehmannii or Syzygium paniculatum)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups boiling water
ice blocks (optional)
- Wash the lilly pillies, place in a bowl and sprinkle over the sugar. Pour over the boiling water and let stand until almost cold.
- Mash with a potato masher to crush out the juice of the berries. Place a sieve over a jug and pour the berries and their juice into this to remove the stones and residue. If the lilly pillies are very small (for example, fruit of Syzygium luehmannii) the masher will not have any great effect, so instead pour them straight into the sieve and press out the juice with the back of a metal spoon. Refrigerate until chilled or add a few ice-blocks to serve.
Lilly Pilly Cordial
Makes about 2 x 750 ml (25 fl oz) bottles
‘Cordial’ is one of those markers of Australian English. In most other parts of the world it would be called ‘syrup’, and the word ‘cordial’ would be reserved for a restorative with a touch or more of alcohol. But in Australia ‘cordial’ is nothing more than one of a number of innocent fruit drinks that are the property of youth and teetotallers. Lilly pillies make a very good cordial to get one through the summer months.
1 kg (2 lb) small-leaved, magenta or creek lilly pillies
3 cups water
Juice of 2 lemons
3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons citric acid
- Place the washed lilly pillies in a large saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes until cooked. Let cool.
- Line a sieve with a jelly bag or bag of flannelette and place over a large clean saucepan. Empty all the cooked lilly pillies and their juice into the bag and pour in the lemon juice. Gather up the bag around the fruit and squeeze and twist the bag until all the goodness is forced out. Discard the dry remains of the lilly pillies and wash the bag for future use.
- Bring the lilly pilly liquid to a rapid boil. Stir in the sugar and citric acid. When dissolved completely, pour through a funnel into hot, clean bottles and seal. To consume, place a tablespoon or two in a glass and dilute with tap or soda water. Refrigerate after opening.
Lilly Pilly Whip
Serves 6
3 cups lilly pillies
2 cups water
1 tablespoon gelatine
¾ cup sugar
300 ml (1¼ cups) cream
- Place the rinsed lilly pillies in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Pick out 6 good berries for decoration and set aside.
- Line a large bowl with muslin or a cloth jelly bag. Pour the juice and berries into the middle. Gather up the cloth around the berries and squeeze tight to extract all the juice. You should have about 2-2¼ cups of liquid.
- Put 1 cup of the juice back in the saucepan and sprinkle the gelatine over the liquid to soften. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until it becomes very hot and the gelatine melts. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Remove from the heat and add to the rest of the lilly pilly juice in a bowl. Refrigerate until half-set.
- Whip the cream, not too stiff. Beat the lilly pilly jelly to break it up and fold in about ¾ of the whipped cream with a large metal spoon until smoothly combined. Spoon into 6 individual dessert dishes or a large crystal bowl. Chill, covered, until completely set. Serve with the remaining cream spooned over the top and decorate with a berry. The dessert can also be moulded, in which case use an extra ½ tablespoon of gelatin.
Lilly Pilly Upside-Down Cake
Serves 6
This is one of my own inventions to suit the Small-Leaved Lilly Pilly, Syzygium luehmannii, and its soft seeds.
2 cups Small-Leaved Lilly Pillies (Syzygium luehmannii)
½ cup raw or white sugar
60 g (2 oz) butter, softened
1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
Cake Batter
60 g (2 oz) butter, softened
¾ cup castor sugar
1 egg, beaten
1½ cups self-raising flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
- Mix the washed and stalked lilly pillies with half of the sugar and set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter with the orange rind and the remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Spread this over the base and sides of a 20 cm (8-inch) square cake tin. Spread the lilly pillies evenly over the bottom of the tin.
- To make the cake, use your electric mixer to cream the butter with the castor sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg in thirds, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour with the salt and fold into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, using a low setting on your mixer.
- Spoon the batter carefully over the fruit. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (180oC, 380oF) for about 50 minutes until cooked. Test for doneness with a fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake: when it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
- Loosen the cake from the sides of the tin with a knife and invert onto a cooling rack. Alternately, serve it hot and turn it straight onto a serving plate. Serve plain or with whipped cream for afternoon tea or dessert.
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Traditional Australian Cookery 