Pawpaws

Somebody gave us some pawpaws the other day. Never heard of a pawpaw? Remember Disney’s Jungle Book movie? Where Baloo is trying to teach Mowgli how to be a bear? Here I copied some of the lyrics for you:

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That’s why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don’t pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don’t need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw

Have I given you a clue?
The bare necessities of life will come to you
They’ll come to you!

I assume that Mowgli knew what a pawpaw was. My children didn’t have a clue. I myself had only ever tasted one once before.

Pawpaws grow on a tree and are actually considered large berries. They ripen in September and October and are fairly high in protein. Pawpaws have a smooth skin that you don’t eat (at least we didn’t). They have fairly large seeds inside. The fruit has a custard-like consistency. Some people say it reminds them of bananas or mangos or papayas. But not really.

I personally like them. Jim likes them. Brett likes them. And here is a photo of Greyden eating one. He really likes them.

I don’t know if there is a proper way to eat pawpaws. I cut them in half and we scooped out the inside fruit with a spoon and discarded the seeds.

Pawpaw trees grow really well here in Indiana and require little care. Jim and I are talking about planting a few of them. I always love it when we add new healthy things to our diet. Especially when it is something that we can grow ourselves. 😀