Is Papaya supposed to stink?

[ReneeH]

O.k... So I'm about to make Alissa's Papaya Steak again (actually it's for a friend of mine...). Anyway, it "smells"....bad! It's not a rotten smell, though... It's not really a tropical smell... Honestly, I don't know what to compare it to!

I don't think it's spoiled...it's firmly-soft, nice color...

I guess I didn't smell the Papaya the first time I made the Steak... Is this normal?

[Revvell]

I don't think it's the best smelling fruit but, stink? Not really. Not like durian stink, anyway.

[ReneeH]

Thanks Rev! "Not the best smelling fruit..." That's a pretty kind way of putting it!!! :)

Yea, not even CLOSE to a durian...

Hummmm...yea, I guess this one must be o.k.

[ReneeH]

OOOOHHHH!!! I know why I missed the smell the first time!!! I was too busy smelling the Star Anise and tasting the Marinade!!!!

YUMMMMMM!!! Makes you almost forget the yuk smell of the Papaya!!!! LOL!!!!

[Revvell]

Well see? There ya go!

[Stina]

Trust your taste buds!

[DawnD]

I don't like papaya b/c of the off taste/smell but I love it blended with banana. Thats the only way I can eat it so far.

[Mikey_H]

I think it smells baaadd..
I can't even eat it alone at all. The last time I bought one last year I was so turned off by how it collected flies and smelled like dirty locker room.

Strangely enough I love it frozen and blended into a smoothie with other tropical fruits. Same goes with nutritional yeast, I hate the smell but love it mixed into food creations.

[Non]

well.. tbh I started liking papaya for the enzyme papain.

At first I didn't like it chopped, but I figured it was due to the fact that it was hard to chop it a good distance away from the skin.

Then someone told me the best way to eat it (IMO) is to just cut it in half lengthwise and spoon the seeds out, and just eat it all out with a spoon by scraping. It tastes REALLY good that way. That way you dont have to get too close to the skin.

[RawSar]

Mmmm One of my fav fruits is papaya!! I think it smells yummy and taste even better!
My future mother in law thinks it taste and smells like perfume, she hates it.

I always cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and use a melon baller to eat it. Papayas never make it to a recipe in this house, thank god my boyfriend hates it too .. mmmmm more papaya for moi :)

How's Alissa's papaya 'steak' Renee?

[kaybee]

i think it smells like dirty feet. but nonetheless wish i could find some here for the enzymes :/

[Mikey_H]

Question for the papaya-lovers...

Is there a taste/smell difference between the small ones and the large ones? The one's I have had experience with are the large ones.

I should probably suck it up and try eating it again....
Does anybody dry papaya? Or does it stink up the dehydrator and house?

[kaybee]

ive never dried it, but ive had it dried from the hfs. i actually really like it dried, but dont know about it stinking up the place

[100wattjames]

namaste everyone, new to the forum here and I thought rambling about papayas a bit might be... well, one way of saying hello: ).

There was a question about small and large papayas, I've been a semi-regular papaya consumer and have done both, and I've found that the smaller ones (which I usually got from a farmer's market instead of a mainstream store) always smelled sweet and tropical, and tasted delicious. The larger ones often smelled bad, but I've had large ones that are good too.

To be honest, that funky smell isn't really how papaya are supposed to smell I think. I haven't been to Hawaii, but the people I know who've had 'real' papaya say there's no comparison really.

One last point... I learned maybe two weeks ago that most commercially available papaya is GMO! I have no idea why papaya would be a good crop to engineer, but I'm really second guessing my decision to eat any of it at all now:/. I wonder if the smelly papayas are just the genetically modified, 'shipped across the world and then ripened on arrival' ones?

[RawSar]

I've been to Hawaii and had papayas there. To be honest I dont think I noticed a difference in taste or smell. Maybe I've just had good ones??
They are very expensive to buy here so I don't eat them as often as I want.

I've never tried drying them but have had dried papaya from the store which I'm sure has been dusted with something.. its good but no where near as good as fresh papaya.