Nutritional values for 2 guavas
Calories: 92; Carbohydrates: 21 g; Fat: 1.1 g; Protein: 2 g; rich in fibre and sodium

Buying guava
The fruit should give when pressed gently. Avoid any with too many black marks.
Look for guavas with yellow or yellowish-green skin, which contain more flavourful flesh
Be aware that the patillo variety is rather acidic and better suited to cooking; the Ruby variety has very sweet red flesh with very few seeds

Storage
Store guavas at room temperature if they have not yet reached the desired stage of ripeness
Guavas are very fragile when ripe; they are susceptible to shocks and become highly perishable
Guavas cannot be kept for more than 2 days in the refrigerator; when exposed to cold their flesh becomes like leather

Cooking tips
The guava has a thin pale yellow or slightly pink skin. Under the skin is a slightly grainy layer, followed by a paler section, which surrounds a very juicy centre in which there are very hard yellow seeds. Peel and seed the guava before use.
When the guava is almost fully ripe, it can be cooked and puréed to flavour meat or poultry.

Suggestions

• Use in sauces, chutneys or jams
• Semi-ripe guavas can be used with hibiscus flowers or low-pectin fruits to make jelly
• Purée with milk, sugar and gelatin; pour into individual ramekins to set; unmould and garnish with exotic fruit
• Make a guava paste as a garnish or filling for a cake

Gourmetpedia
South Pacific - Guava sauce - Make a pulp by pressing guava slices through a wide-mesh sieve, or else use the pulp left over after making juice, to obtain 500 ml; place in a saucepan with 1 medium onion, a pinch of ground pepper, a minced clove of garlic, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1 level teaspoon of ground "quatre-épices," 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp. ground cloves, ¼ cup sugar, and salt; let simmer 45 minutes

West Indies - guava sorbet - put 300g very ripe guava through a food mill and pour the resulting purée into a litre of water. Mix and then strain. Add some sugar and the juice of half a lemon and place into an ice-cream maker.

Vietnam - guavas are eaten barely ripe, with lemon juice and chili peppers, to accompany grilled fish