Paw Paws

This Month the Board would like to highlight a product that the Common Ground recently carried in the produce section: The Pawpaw! 

The Pawpaw is a fascinating tree native to the United States. It’s the only local member of a large, mainly-tropical plant family (Annonaceae), and produces the largest edible fruit native to North America. 

Not to be confused with papayas, the skin color of ripe pawpaws can range from green to brown or black on the outside and is yellow on the inside, with a ripe pawpaw about the size of a large potato. Nodding, dark purple flowers are visible on the plant in the spring, elongated edible fruit in the summer, and a yellow to yellow-green fall color add to the appeal of this small understory tree. The fruit of the pawpaw’s flavor and flesh consistency resembles that of bananas, but with hints of mango, vanilla, and citrus flavors. 

Pawpaws have not been cultivated for their fruits on the scale of apples or peaches, primarily because pawpaw fruits ripen to the point of fermentation soon after they are picked, and only frozen fruit stores or ships well. Pawpaws are more commonly sold as jams or jellies. 

Pawpaws can be eaten by slicing the fruit open and removing the large, oval-shaped black seeds. They can also be made into breads, pies, cakes, cookies, muffins, puddings, jam, butter, salsa, ice cream, and for a growing list of microbrewers, into craft beers. 

If you see it in the store, we recommend that you try a piece!