Pawpaw

Although the pawpaw is experiencing a surge in popularity, it isn't widely grown on a commercial scale. Combined with a delicate skin and very short shelf life, this makes it nearly impossible to find in stores. If you live in the Eastern US, look for pawpaws at your local farmers market during late summer and early fall — show up early, since the fruit is in high demand. Some areas even have pawpaw festivals.

Foraging for wild pawpaws is popular throughout its native range, especially in Appalachia. They tend to be most common in established forests in areas with light shade. Look for fruit that's soft to the touch and has a strong, fruity aroma. Not all varieties change color when ripe — some may be yellow, others remain green — so scent is the best indicator of ripeness. When picking from the tree, fruits will fall to the ground when ripe or come off with a gentle shake.

Pawpaws have a very short shelf life at room temperature — use ripe fruit as quickly as possible. Slightly underripe pawpaws can ripen in the fridge over a few weeks, while ripe ones can be kept refrigerated for several days. For longer-term storage, frozen pulp (skin and seeds removed) keeps well and can be used for baking and jams.

Many aficionados insist that fresh, raw pawpaws are the best way to enjoy the fruit. Most ripe pawpaws have bright, tropical flavors — often likened to mangoes and bananas. As some varieties ripen further, they develop deeper, caramelly flavors and creamier textures.

Eating Fresh: Cut and eat a fresh pawpaw straight from the skin, being mindful of the large seeds. To use the pulp, press the peeled fruit through a colander to easily remove the seeds.

Baked Goods: With its custard-like consistency, pawpaw works beautifully in breads, puddings, cheesecake, and ice cream. It can be substituted in any recipe calling for fresh or mashed banana — banana bread, banana pudding, and beyond.

Drinks: Pawpaw's rising popularity has made its way into craft beverages — a growing number of breweries and distilleries in Appalachia and the Eastern US use the fruit to flavor beers, liqueurs, and even moonshine.

Pawpaws are often made into jams that highlight their creamy texture. Indigenous tribes like the Iroquois traditionally dried pawpaw flesh into small cakes that could be consumed dry or reconstituted into sauces — a remarkable preservation technique for a fruit so perishable.

Note: Exercise caution with dried pawpaw or fruit leathers; some people have reported nausea and illness after eating dried pawpaw, and the causes of this intolerance are still unclear. Freezing the pulp is the safest and most practical preservation method.

Compared to many other fruits, pawpaws are relatively high in protein and fat, and a good source of many vitamins. The pawpaw has three times the Vitamin C of an apple and twice as much as a banana. It has double the riboflavin of an orange and a good amount of niacin — a remarkably nutrient-dense wild fruit.

The pawpaw's tropical taste is no coincidence: it is the only temperate member of the custard apple family, a group of tropical trees including cherimoya and soursop. Scientists suspect its unusually wide distribution may be the result of extinct animals — like giant ground sloths — eating the fruit and spreading the seeds through droppings.

The scientific name, Asimina triloba, comes directly from the Powhatan tribe's name for the fruit, Assimina. The English name "pawpaw" may come from the Spanish word for papaya, which bears a similar-looking (though unrelated) fruit.

Pawpaw flowers smell like rotting meat and are mainly pollinated by flies. The leaves are the sole food source for caterpillars of the zebra swallowtail butterfly, which — much like monarch butterflies and milkweed — use compounds in the pawpaw leaves to deter predators.

Pawpaws are an important tree in the forests of the Eastern and Midwestern US. They are an important food source and habitat for wildlife — squirrels, raccoons, opossums, foxes, and bears all consume pawpaw fruits. They help stabilize soil with their roots and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Their leaves contain acetogenins that deter deer from eating them. This has actually made pawpaw saplings more common in recent years as growing deer populations eat other trees — good news for foragers in the future. Because they grow wild and require no pesticides, pawpaws represent one of the most ecologically beneficial fruits available in North America.

Season: Late August through September and into early October.