A Few More of the Pawpaw's First-time Tasters

On Wednesday this week, the final two (of four total) pawpaws were soft enough to pick. We let them ripen in the normal privileged place on the kitchen table, among the bronze quail and Mexican candlestick holders. And this evening they were ripe so we headed off for two more drive-by pawpaw tastings.

Here's what people said at the first drive-by tasting:

JR (who is a self-professed foodie and prides himself on not eating at the same restaurant twice) said: "It's real good isn't it? It tastes like candy. Candy is the first thing that comes to my mind. The flavor seems reminiscent of--related to--a tropical Starburst, I'd say. And the texture is almost candy-ish too. It's obviously less resistant than a Starburst but it seems like it's in the same family of resistance. It also feels mango-y, and maybe a little bit [mango-y] taste-wise. It feels really tropical....I should have said, it's like Starburst but without the sugar overdose."

Two of his kids asked to try some pawpaw as well. BR (about eight years old) said: "It tastes like a taste that I've never tasted before. It reminds me of a green fruit that tastes like something I've never tasted before." And KR (same age as BR) said: "It tastes unpleasant like a banana. It was also very bitter."

And here's what people said at the second drive-by tasting, at the H's house:

Joanna said: "A little sweet. Interesting. It's good. It almost tastes like an overripe banana. Almost like a custard. It reminds me of the filling of bismarck, like cream filling."

Jordan said: "I like the texture...that creaminess. It's milder and better than an overripe banana. Not quite kiwi but kind of. There's a doughiness to it, like a bread dough."

Three of their kids tried it. EH (age 12) said, "Tastes like pears and it's creamy." SH (about 9) said, "I think it tastes like banana mixed with strawberry. It tastes more like mango." And their youngest, LH, said, "It's good."

Here are the two pawpaws that were ripe. The one in the foreground was only about an inch and a half long. The one further to the back was twice as big. The one is the foreground is the one we shared at the two tasting events. And when we got home and got the kids to bed, NJ and I ate the one in the background. I kept the seeds, though there were only two seeds in the smaller fruit and three seeds in the bigger fruit. And honestly, the size of these two fruits doesn't say great things about the fruit-bearing capacity of any trees that would grow from their seeds. I told NJ that if they sprout, maybe I would give these particular seedlings to some friends I don't like very much, or even to some frenemies. 

The Pawpaw's First-time Tasters

With the first pawpaw that our Wells cultivar bore (a few weeks ago now), we held the First Annual Utah Pawpaw Festival.

But during the past week (maybe Wednesday?), the Wells cultivar dropped a second somewhat smaller pawpaw. What to do with this one? On Friday we decided to share it with some friends around the neighborhood, each of them first-time pawpaw tasters.

NJ and I have eaten so many pawpaws that to us a pawpaw tastes like a pawpaw. So we wanted to see what first-time pawpaw tasters would say about, well, their first time tasting a pawpaw.

Before dropping in at a few friends' houses, I took a picture of the spot on the table where the pawpaw had been ripening since falling from the tree.

We stopped by at the first house and found our friends willing to taste a pawpaw for the first time. They even let me use their brand new knife to cut it.

Before they tasted it, we had them smell it. KS said, "To me it has a pina colada smell," and RS said, "To me it smells like a star fruit, like unmistakably like a star fruit, with a hint of pineapple." And their daughter VS said, "Like a sapote and a fruit from Hawaii." (We had shared a mamey sapote with their family a few weeks ago; to me it seems like a high compliment to a pawpaw to be compared to a mamey sapote, since I can hardly imagine a better fruit than a good ripe mamey sapote.) 

What a nice looking pawpaw!

Based on my extensive notes, which I took as she spoke, this is what KS said: "It has the consistency of a mango. I like it. I'd say--I know passion fruit is its own kind of fruit, but I think of passion fruit as an umbrella of fruit...guava, papaya, passion fruit, and I would say pawpaw too. I'd say they're sister fruits. It's like a mild pina colada. Sapote is like a melony custard. Kind of like that too."

Then RS said, "See I taste a little banana-ish in there, both in the texture and in taste. Texture is very banana-ish. Definitely tropical to me. What else? So if you describe it without comparing it to other fruits--a mild sweetness but citrusy in some ways. I think you could eat a lot of them. It's mild enough to eat a lot of them but sweet enough to really like them. Closer to the skin it becomes a little more bitter, kind of like a watermelon. It's good. It's crazy that this comes from North America. It's unlike any other fruit in North America. I could taste a little coconut. Why don't people know about pawpaws?"

After we had imposed on this first family with a drive-by pawpaw tasting, we proceeded to the home of some other friends who had already heard that we were coming by. (In fact, earlier as I was walking home from work, MHE drove past me and said they were willing to taste the pawpaw anytime that evening before the football game at 8pm.)

Here's MHE and EE, with MHE pretending to eat a piece of pawpaw for the camera, and EE making a strange kind of muted yet also melodramatic face.

Before I gave any pawpaw to either of them, their 11-year-old son came into the kitchen and asked to try some. I gave him a bite and he said, "Feels like the same material as pumpkin. But it tastes like pineapple. It's good but I've had better."

Then MHE tried it and said, with raised eyebrows, "Melt in your mouth delicious. Kind of like a mellow mango. It has a really nice texture. Delightful. Not too overpowering."

Then EE tried it. I was curious about what he would say because he's got really unique perspectives in terms of taste, ever since he experience damage to the olfactory nerve during graduate school (for years he's called his condition "amnosia"). This is what he said: "The first commentary is--chewy banana. Second thought...I don't know--it's like a flavorful potato. But I will say this: way better than the sapote. I like this." Then EE's mom walked in and tried some and said, "This is probably way off, but my senses said, this tastes like some kind of medicine or mouthwash I've had in the past." And then EE piggybacked on that and continued: "It does have a hint of something they use at the dentist to shine your teeth. But not in a bad way."

Six people shared the one pawpaw. Here are its five seeds, which we'll be stratifying in the refrigerator so they'll sprout in the spring hopefully. Who knows but from these five seeds may spring five new pawpaw cultivars: the Starfruit, the Flavorful Potato, the Mellow Mango, the Passion Fruit Umbrella, and the Mouthwash.