# A new (to me) fruit! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [September 26, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767 "2024-09-26T20:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/1 "2024-09-26T20:14:13Z")
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? [![](https://i.imgur.com/LM9MHPS.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/LM9MHPS.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/P82CHpj.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/P82CHpj.jpeg) 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! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/2 "2024-09-26T20:17:03Z")
Woo hoo! I guessed right, though I’ve never actually had one. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/3 "2024-09-26T20:17:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/4 "2024-09-26T20:22:03Z")
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 ETA: Soursop!!! ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/5 "2024-09-26T21:04:55Z")
From last year, a thread on pawpaw, sourpsop and similar fruit: [Have you ever eaten pawpaw? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-eaten-pawpaw/984455) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/6 "2024-09-26T21:06:50Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Do you know? Yep. Most Southerners will recognize them. They don’t travel at all well, which is why you never see them in grocery stores anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/7 "2024-09-26T21:12:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > They don’t travel at all well, which is why you never see them in grocery stores anywhere else. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/8 "2024-09-26T23:10:31Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/9 "2024-09-26T23:34:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/10 "2024-09-26T23:37:24Z")
I believe paw paws are native to the Eastern United States. That’s a bit unusual as most common fruit is native to elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/11 "2024-09-26T23:47:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/12 "2024-09-26T23:48:08Z")
I didn’t know that those berries were native to the US. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/13 "2024-09-27T00:11:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/14 "2024-09-27T01:07:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I believe paw paws are native to the Eastern United States. And the largest native fruit! ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/15 "2024-09-27T02:06:47Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Just wander around the woods and bogs of New England, you’ll find lots of berries. Just don’t make a pie with wild blackberries. it’ll be real crunchy due to all the seeds. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/16 "2024-09-27T02:27:04Z")
There is a [Pawpaw Festival](https://hornfarmcenter.org/pawpawfest/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/17 "2024-09-27T02:34:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/18 "2024-09-27T02:35:52Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > There is a [Pawpaw Festival](https://hornfarmcenter.org/pawpawfest/) Wow! That’s wild. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/19 "2024-09-27T05:51:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767/20 "2024-09-27T06:14:22Z")
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! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-to-me-fruit/1007767.md?page=2)