#PawPaw September 9
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PAWPAW the fruit has a lot of nicknames. America’s Lost Fruit and Appalachian Banana are two that come to mind. The PAWPAW’s proper name is Asimina triloba.
Here is something I didn’t know PAWPAW fruits are the largest edible fruit that are indigenous in the United States. I learned all about them last week from my fascinating neighbor Jef Lambdin.
On September 2nd Jef called me on the phone and asked me if I was still doing new things now that my 30 Day Challenge “Try Something New” for August was completed. I told him that challenge had morphed into a habit and yes I was game.
Jef said he wanted to show me how to pick, cut, and eat a piece of PAWPAW fruit. I told him I never had seen or heard of it before. I went over to house and got a lesson.
Jef planted this tree five years ago from a seed. He told me that the trees reach maturity at 15 to 20 feet, and can continue to grow up to 30 to 40 feet. They often form thickets or groves with their ever-expanding root system. He said his wife Dencie is on the lookout for that ever expanding root so it doesn’t compromise her azaleas.
The tree is native in the Southeast along the Appalachian Range and into regions of eastern Texas and Arkansas. It is considered North America’s only tropical fruit.
I asked Jef if this fruit is so common and native to North Carolina why haven’t I heard of it before. He said it just does not travel well because it it fragile and doesn’t stay ripe long. It usually can be found in Farmer’s Markets when they are ripe.
Jef picked a few and we headed to his kitchen. He picked out one that was really ripe and gave me a tutorial on how to cut it, break it open, and scoop out the flesh and eat it.
The flavor is definitely tropical tasting like a cross between mango and banana. It also had a creamy texture to it.
Here is a YouTube video on the PawPaw with some emphasis on North Carolina.
In a little bit of irony this past weekend my wife and I spent the Labor Day weekend in the mountains of NC and TN. On Saturday we went to the Waynesville NC Farmer’s Market and a vendor tried to sell me a PAW PAW sapling. He didn’t have any PAW PAW fruit he said they are about 2 weeks away from ripening in Haywood County (NC).
I declined his offer to buy the sapling but not Jef’s offer to try a PAW PAW.
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