One of my favourite books is The Fruit and Nut Book by Gail Duff.
My edition was published in 1990.

The book contains wonderful information about nearly one hundred fruits, nuts and seeds.

There are also about 200  recipes, designed to enhance out the flavour of the main fruit or
 nut.

Loquats are in season here in Adelaide and most folks do not know what to do with them.

Here is a recipe I have adapted from Gail's book.


Chickpea, Rice and Loquat Salad

2 cups of cooked chickpeas

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cups of peeled and sliced loquats

Mix together.


Salad dressing

1/2 cup of olive oil

juice of 2 lemons

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

salt and ground black pepper

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 cup of chopped parsley

2 sliced spring onion (optional)

Chopped chilli to taste

Chopped coriander to taste

Mix all dressing ingredients together and stir through peas, rice and loquats.

This salad is also great with tomatoes or diced orange if you do not have loquats.