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Pickin’ up Pawpaws

“Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ’em in her pockets…Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.” — Pawpaw Patch (folk song)

I’m absolutely certain that one of the many lives I’ve lived was that of an early 1800s granny witch in the Appalachian mountains.

And because of that I have a love and affinity for one of the few uniquely native fruits to the United States - the Pawpaw!

This is a Pawpaw

An oblong, green fruit that comes ripe about the first week in September where I live in the northern most reach of its native range (pickle cucumbers and paste tomatoes in a five gallon bucket for scale).

This fruit has the texture of a banana/ripe avocado but tastes like a mango/banana. When they’re ripe, they start to get soft like a banana and if you don’t get them before they fall from the tree, you’re usually out of luck because as soon as they hit the ground they mush and bruise and EVERYTHING else gets to them first.

Anything you can make with a banana you can make with Pawpaws without changing too much the recipe. Pawpaw bread, cookies, ice cream, jam, jelly, butter and they’re even used in fermenting for beer and moonshine! My favorite thing to make is Pawpaw jam…although it’s more of a preserve since I leave large fruit chunks in it.

Step 1 - remove the skins! , Step 2 - heat up in lemon juice so the seeds are easier to remove, Step 3 - REMOVE ALL THE SEEDS. This takes forever! This is a wild fruit meaning it’s not been domesticated to have small, manageable seeds. They have lots of large, black seeds that take forever to remove by hand. I have a food mill I could have used to help me out with the process but I was too lazy to dig it out of my canning supplies, Step 4 - heat up mash with pectin and sugar, Step 5 - add yummy fall slices like cinnamon and vanilla, Step 6 - can it!

If you’re thinking that Pawpaws sound delightful and Why Haven’t I Heard of Them? The reason usually goes back to the undomesticated comment I made earlier.

Pawpaws are slow growing and slow to maturity, with each tree only producing a handful of fruits each year.

These are Pawpaw blossoms! Notice how they’re a a deep maroon color? That’s because they’re not a looking to attract bees or butterflies for pollination but flies! These blossoms, although pretty, bloom so early in the year that most normal pollinators aren’t out yet to pollinate so they relay on insects that like dead things instead. Which means their flowers have to mimic the look and smell of carrion. Yes, they smell like rotting meat. It’s not an over powering scent unless you stick your nose in the flower but still! Another huge hurdle for growers trying to have a commercial Pawpaw operation. Not to say some aren’t trying, theirs plenty of active groups out there trying to get a domesticated cultivar for commercial growing but so far, no luck!

So for now, if you want to try a Pawpaw come to the Appalachians in late August, early September and find yourself a Pawpaw patch in the forest. Or come see me…I’ll hook you up ;)