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I grew up eating and loving pawoaws. My farmer grandfather had trees, and it always seemed the season for ripe pawpaws was quite short. When I first ate figs, much later, I immediately flashed back to childhood and pawpaws.
Anyone ever heard this old song?
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Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?
Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?
Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Come on, boys [or girls, or kids], let's go find her,
Come on, boys, let's go find her,
Come on, boys, let's go find her,
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Pickin' up paw-paws, puttin' 'em in her pockets,
Pickin' up paw-paws, puttin' 'em in her pockets,
Pickin' up paw-paws, puttin' 'em in her pockets,
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Are you talking about papayas or something different? I've heard papayas called paw paws.
No, they're totally different trees. Paw paws are native to the Eastern United States (and Canada) and often grow in rich. moist bottomland. The Papaya is native to tropical America.
I've heard of pawpaws, but never seen one. They're often compared to papaya, which I love.
I looked them up just now, and love this description: Pawpaws are larger than papayas. They can grow up to the size of a large marrow, providing enough fruit for a large household. Papayas grow to a similar size as small butternuts; they are smaller than pawpaws.
How big is a marrow? WHAT is a marrow? (It's a zucchini.)
Ditto for butternuts--looked them up, they're "similar to walnuts." Excuse me, papayas are waaay bigger than walnuts, 6" or longer.
I guess pawpaws naturally only grow in the east, or maybe the south, since they aren't included in the Sunset Western Garden Guide.
(they're referred to as tropical plants, and are related to cherimoya, yummy "custard fruit").
How big is a marrow? WHAT is a marrow? (It's a zucchini.)
A marrow is similar to zucchini, but whereas in the US we like to pick zucchini quite small and immature, in England they let marrows get HUGE. I quote:
Quote:
Marrow is a summer squash that looks like a long, fat, giant zucchini. They are always very large, and can grow to be as long as a watermelon.
Saying something is "as big as a marrow" is not at all the same as saying it's as big as a zucchini. If a pawpaw is as big as a large marrow, it's enormous!
And I think the "butternut" reference is to butternut squash. Yeah, the average papaya is about as big as a small butternut squash, but the Mexican papayas are really big.
So all these comparisons are more confusing than if they just said about how many inches/centimeters the fruit is.
I have lived in the South all my life and have always heard of paw paws, but I have never seen one. Once in South Georgia at a roadside stand advertising paw paw jelly or maybe preserves, I forget which. I bought some and it was delicious on toast. I asked the owner of the stand if there was a paw paw tree nearby I could see. He directed me to a bunch of small trees about a half mile down the road. I drove down to check them out and they were what is known in the South as china berry trees. I think he didn’t want me to see his private grove of paw paws as they must not be too common.
When you pick a paw-paw, or a prickley pear, and you prick a raw paw, well next time beware; don't pick the prickley pear by the paw when you pick the pear try to use the claw, but you don't need to use the claws when you pick a pair of the big paw-paws Have I given you a clue.....
I know this is an old post, but I was just about to say that this was the first and only time I had ever heard of it. Sounds good, though.
We have quite a few paw paw trees in our woods. I'm in the southern half of Indiana. The deer always seem to get them before I can try them out. I have picked a few before they were ripe. I hoped they would kind of ripen like a banana. They remained hard.
None have every grown as big as a marrow or even a papaya--maybe the deer get them.
It's been a few years, but some guy at our Farmer's market was passing them out one year. I think they were fine.
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Similar taste as figs
