Old Man Pawpaw

The Yellow Billed Cuckoo in a Pawpaw tree by John James Audubon

I believe in America--because America is home to the paw paw. For those of you who are not familiar with the pawpaw, the pawpaw is possibly the most delicious fruit in the world, capable of taking on the tastiest tropical competitors. Pawpaws are the largest native fruit of North America. They are sometimes called prairie or Ozark bananas. They are round, green on the outside and can be up to 6" long and 3" wide. Inside are two rows of seeds and the delicious creamy yellow fruit. It tastes kind of like a custardy mango with a bit of banana and pear thrown in. It's smooth and sweet and creamy.



Sadly, you are not likely to encounter a pawpaw, even in the produce section of your most gourmet grocery store. This is because the pawpaw has a short shelf life and isn't a very good pollinator, so it is hard to grow the fruit commercially. The blossoms of the pawpaw tree are not sweetly fragrant. Their main pollinator is the carrion flies, so it has trouble attracting bees or other insects who prefer sweeter fair. Fortunately, the intrepid Kentucky State University is working on the problem.

The only way to really get pawpaws is to go for a walk in the woods. Pawpaws grow naturally in the East from the Great Lakes to Texas. Pawpaw trees are 6' to 30' tall. The fruit ripens at the end of the summer. Our friends, Norma and Brian are expert pawpaw foragers. They seek them out on public, and sometimes private land. They usually ask permission. They graciously shared some of their bounty tonight and the pawpaws were perfectly ripe and absolutely delicious.

After such a delicious treat, Aaron and I were having pawpaw cultivating dreams of our own. We looked up pawpaws on the internet and were thrilled to discover the Ohio Pawpaw Festival (logo below--old man pawpaw). Fortuitously, it is this weekend! We're thinking of planning a trip...except that Aaron has class on Saturday. So maybe I'll just go myself. Any one interested in a pawpaw adventure? There will be pawpaw baked goods, pawpaw eating competitions, and other events. It sounds like a really good time. Probably worth the trip just for the t-shirt.

So thanks Norma and Brian, for introducing us to the delicious, all-American pawpaw.