Home » Food & Drink » Cooking for the Season » Papaya Facts and Recipes: How to Choose, Eat and Cook with this Tropical Fruit

Papaya Facts and Recipes: How to Choose, Eat and Cook with this Tropical Fruit

© Jennifer A. Wickes

The papaya, also known as mamao, papaw and tree melon, is native to Central and South America. There are two types of papayas: Hawaiian and Mexican. The Hawaiian Papaya is pear-shaped with a yellow skin. The flesh can be orange to pink with black seeds in the center, and it can weigh up to a pound. The Mexican Papaya has a green skin and salmon colored flesh, is less sweet, and can weigh up to 10 pounds.

When selecting papayas, choose ones with unblemished skins with healthy colors. It should be heavy and give a little when pressed. Avoid excessively hard or soft papayas. Papayas with dark spots have deep bruising and should be avoided. Ripen an unripe papaya in a brown paper bag.

To eat a ripe papaya by itself, cut it lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Eat with a spoon, or peel the skin off and slice. The seeds may be eaten, or thrown away.

Papaya Recipes

Prosciutto and Papaya
1 papaya
12 slices of prosciutto
1 lime
4 teaspoons capers
freshly ground black pepper

Peel the papaya and cut in half. Using a spoon, remove the black seeds. Discard the skin and seeds. Slice the papaya into 12 slices. Arrange 3 per plate in a decorative fashion. Roll three slices of prosciutto per plate and arrange decoratively. Place a piece of lime on each plate. Scatter 1 teaspoon of capers per plate and add some pepper to the proscuitto. Serve as an appetizer on a warm day with a glass of Chardonnay.

Yield: 4 servings

Tropical Fruit Salad
3 mango, peeled, seeded, and cut to a medium dice
3 papaya, peeled, seeded, and cut to a medium dice
1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut to a medium dice
3 banana, peeled and bias-sliced to 1/2-inch
1/2 cup shredded coconut, freshly
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
2 cups flavored yogurt, pineapple
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, strained

Sprinkle fruit with lemon juice. Combine fruit, coconut, and macadamia nuts-toss lightly to mix. Cover and chill. Serve chilled, with pineapple yogurt to the side.

Yield: 16 servings

PawPaw Montespan
Traditionally eaten in Bermuda.
4 green pawpaws, skinned and diced
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 Bermuda onion, thinly sliced, fried
1/2 pound ground round, browned and drained
grated cheddar cheese

Cook pawpaws until tender. Mash and put a layer into a greased baking dish. Cover with a thin layer of tomatoes, then meat and onion, then cheese. Repeat theselayers until all ingredients have been used. Finish with pawpaw, sprinkle with cheese. Cover with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

The copyright of the article Papaya Facts and Recipes: How to Choose, Eat and Cook with this Tropical Fruit in Cooking for the Season is owned by Jennifer A. Wickes. Permission to republish Papaya Facts and Recipes: How to Choose, Eat and Cook with this Tropical Fruit in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.