Earlier this week I experienced Roma Beans for the first time. Today, a woman stopped in at work with a bag of food, and the message, “I’ll bet kayaker doesn’t know what these are!”
The receptionist didn’t have a clue, but I had an inkling and my gf confirmed it. Do you know?
They are paw paws.. My gf bought a tree and planted it before I knew her. The second year deer ate the tree and she gave up. I’m collecting the seeds and will make an attempt. The seeds need to be stratified, then germinated indoors and eventually planted outside. It takes 7-8 years before they bear fruit.
It’s kind of amazing that after 66 years I’m still finding foods I haven’t had, plus it is a native plant to this area!
Interesting. Are some of those over-ripe? I understand from something I sort-of partially read the other day that there are people and/or organizations that are trying to bring this back to a greater level of popularity, especially in the areas where they grow naturally.
I will say they don’t look appetizing to me, mostly because of the apparent texture. I don’t like mushy fruit.
The fruit has a custard texture and tastes like a mix of banana and mango. Some are a bit overripe, but supposedly that’s when they taste best. They remind me of a fruit I’ve had in the Caribbean
Yes, I read about that. Also interesting that the Native Americans on the east coast liked the fruit and its distribution is a result of their travels and unintentional propagation.
From the picture of the outsides I thought “some kind of pear”? But seeing the picture of the insides, I was pretty sure that was not right. I learned something new today!
I have wanted to plant one – actually you need two as they are not self-pollinating – but the place I found that sells baby trees was sold out last year. Apparently they are gaining in popularity. Like any fruit tree, planting a dormant sapling is going to get you fruit a lot faster than planting a seed.
Yes, they are a fruit native to the US. There are many native berries and grape species – cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and on and on – but paw paw is one of the very few tree fruits humans eat that is from North America.
Cranberries and blueberries are only native here. Europe only had tiny woodland strawberries before the Columbian exchange; also true of North America – our modern strawberries were mainly developed from Chilean species. Concord and Fox grapes are native to North America (remember Vineland, and Leif Erickson?). North America has a wealth of native blackberry and raspberry species that have been used extensively to develop modern hybrids. Just wander around the woods and bogs of New England, you’ll find lots of berries.
There is a Pawpaw Festival coming up in York County this weekend if you’re willing to drive that far, @kayaker. Sorry about the last-minute info. I just found out about it myself.
I’ve never had it, but would dearly like to try it. It’s native to the area I live in, and I live in the woods, but I haven’t found one on my property. Maybe i’ll plant one.
I think the most exotic fruit I’ve ever tried was persimmons. They didn’t taste bad to me, but I’m in no hurry to buy more. I seem to remember they were very astringent and made my mouth want to pucker.
Persimmons pretty much need to look like they have gone bad before they are actually good. If it looks bright and plump, it’s not ripe. If it looks a bit shriveled, spotted, and mushy, then it’s good.
For that batch of pawpaws in the OP, if you are looking to do something with them other than just eating them as is, I would recommend using a banana bread recipe, substituting pawpaws for the bananas. I’ve done that before, and it was delicious!
