Papaya

[Zuzu]

I bought my fist today.
How do I eat it? (stupid question)
Use it for shakes, ex.

Is it a fruit?

[Carolyn]

Hi Kat_Khan,

The banana-papaya pudding in Alissa's book is really good! I have it for breakfast quite a bit. :)

[joy]

Papayas aren't at all acidic, so I think they taste best with some tartness added. You can peel off the skin, cut it into chunks (or leave whole), squeeze some lime over, and enjoy.

The black, caviar-looking seeds inside don't get eaten with the fruit. They do, however, have parasite-fighting medicinal qualities. You can dry them, grind them up, and use like black pepper.

mmmm.....

[Ahimsa]

I loooooooove papaya! I cut it in half (I usually eat the huge maradol ones that weigh at least 10 lbs), remove the seeds (some people eat them, they are very peppery and 'green' tasting), squeeze lime juice on it and dig in with a spoon! Make sure it's ripe, all yellow and practically no green (a few green specks are okay). Also if you buy one that is totally green it will not get ripe without practically rotting first (I made this mistake!). So make sure the papayas you buy are at least a little yellow. And yes it's a fruit :) Enjoy it!

[Punky]

I eat mine with lime squirted on top too. It really brings out the flavor.
I just cut in half and remove seeds, squirt lime and dig in ;)
I am fond of the smaller papaya's with the pink flesh. I don't know what kind of variety they are? I have not tried the bigger ones yet...need too.

I also adore the banana Papaya pudding from Alissa's DVD/book.
I've made this for a non raw friend and she loved it. My son will eat it
ALL if I let him. He even licks the bowl :D

[Autumn]

I made the pudding myself for the first time this week. It was excellent. I chilled it and to me it tasted kinda butterscotchy. :D

[asil]

OK, I'm going to have to give it another try. I've lived and travelled in Mexico a bunch, where it's as ordinary as apples are here. But I always thought it smelled and tasted like vomit. :confused:

[DotfromOz]

Funny, as Mexico was where I first tasted a papaya, well, a fresh one, that is, as I'd had canned papaya before.

Definitely requires the lime juice, IMO, to bring out the flavor fully. Also, you want a very ripe one. I like them at just about going-bad point.

An interesting pointer about mangoes, not that you asked... :) The produce manager at my favorite organic foods market told me that mangoes are best when the peel is starting to wrinkle and freckle. They're pretty good when they're multi-colored almost all over (which had been my experience) but are truly fabulous when you'd think by looking at them and squeezing them that they're goners. Get a slightly wrinkly one with some freckles here and there that's pretty squishy, and it should make you want to cry, it'll be so yummy!

[Punky]

1st time I tried a papaya I did NOT like it either, YUCK. It was "funky"...
Than years later I tried it again with lime and love them now...
don't know what was wrong with the 1st attempt...

I love love love mangos...my favorite food on earth...nice and ripe
and sweet and juicy. My mom is Vietnamese and knows how
to pick them best.....
knows which ones are IN season, which ones are too stringy, etc..
etc...I am blessed to have her help me. Even my friends say they
never have had another mango as good as they had from my moms.
Just goes to show you the differences in fruits 'in season and ripe'.

[VeganVixen]

do give it another try - it was bad and we (probably?) can all agree they need to be not overly ripe

[JustusGSD]

Do you guys have any special tricks you'd like to share on how to get fruit to ripen?? I tried a papaya a few weeks ago and I didn't like it, but I'm not sure it was ripe. :confused: Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Sarah

[sweetgoddess]

Dot, thank you so much! I tried a mango a couple months back and didn't like it, though I wanted to..lol
After reading your post on how to pick a good one, I gave it another go, choosing 1 each of 2 different varieties and loved them both. Thanks! :)