Pawpaw Experiments

This week I was given the opportunity by the folks at Not Far From the Tree to play with some local pawpaws, a fruit I've never before had the chance to cook with. To me they conjure up the American South, and the homey wisdom of Huckleberry Finn, Brer Rabbit and their ilk. But we here in Toronto are part of the Carolinian ecosystem, so we have fauna and flora like opposums and pawpaws here too.

Turns out a pawpaw looks like a small green mango. Inside, though, its flesh is mealier, and almost full of rather attractive large dark seeds (see photo), which don't leave much room for pulp. The skin is like that of a pear. They seem to have a very narrow window between underripe and overripe; not unlike bananas, which they also somewhat resemble.

The scent and flavour are somewhat like a cross between a mango and a banana; they have the gentle sweetness of those fruits, with a firmer texture than a banana, but none of the sharp bright citrus tang of a mango. When they ripen, they rapidly turn brown.

I initially thought I'd make jam with them, but when I smelled and tasted them, I couldn't imagine they'd make a good jam. The pulp is too mealy, and the flavour too subtle. Also, they are said to lose the best of their flavour when heated too long, so boiling for half an hour seemed like a bad idea.

Many sources said they bake well in the same kinds of recipes as bananas, so ultimately I made muffins of them. I used quite a few blackened, overripe ones (after all, black bananas bake beautifully.) They smelled and tasted just fine, and were easier to prep than the underripe ones. The brown ones did have a marked caramel smell and taste, which some sources described as unpleasant, but which I rather like. The bowl above contains the golden pulp that's a mix of white, less ripe, and browner, riper, fruit.

The muffins – which smell great – will be served up, as will some of my sumach jelly and my wild grape and apple jelly, at Not Far From the Tree's upcoming festive harvest event.