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The Paw Paw – Outside & In

A few weeks ago, a man named Dan Frampton came to our office for his appointment to discuss becoming a vendor with Down to Earth Markets. [Nothing unusual there.]

We welcomed him in, and he placed a box of his product on the meeting table and opened it. [This has happened before, too.]

Yet what he placed before us was a brand new sight: Paw paw fruit.

If it were 200 years ago, and Dan had walked into Thomas Jefferson’s office or Lewis and Clark’s campsite, he would have shown them a fruit that they – like most people then – ate regularly. Today, however, the paw paw is a nearly forgotten fruit.

It’s native to the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern areas of the United States. It’s a member of the Annonaceae family of plants, a.k.a. the custard apple family, best known for magnolias and other trees that enjoy the tropics. According to an NPR report, the paw paw tree is the “only temperate member” of this tropical family of trees. According to Merriam-Webster, the name paw paw is “probably a modification” of the Spanish word papaya. Indeed, we’re talking about close fruit cousins.

The paw paw is about the size of a potato and ranges in color from yellow to green. On the inside, its yellow flesh is smooth and custard-like with big brown seeds. It has a short season of ripeness – just a few weeks – and when it’s ripe, it’s creamy and sweet. Some people say it has “melon undertones”. One of paw paw’s nicknames is the Indiana Banana.It’s kind of like a papaya banana mango melon.

Dan is working with a farmer who grows paw paws on a 200 acre farm in Wallkill, New York. He says it’s “super easy” to grow paw paws, as bugs “don’t really care for it.” They didn’t need pesticides in the growing process. Dan went on to explain that the paw paw is the “the gold standard for fruit protein.” To support his words, the Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program has written that paw paws have more proteins than bananas, as well as three times the amount of vitamin C than apples.

So how could a native American fruit that tastes like a tropical, is easy to grow, and full of health benefits almost disappear? According to Dan, “We don’t like less than perfect fruits” and the paw paw bruises easily. Over the past couple of generations, we’ve come to think that fruit should be unblemished. It arrives in the conventional grocery store in perfect shape, despite having traveled for thousands of miles. The paw paw, however, doesn’t pretty up after a long trip, so they fell out of favor. Paw paws are best served local.

Slow Food USA lists the paw paw in its Ark of Taste, the “living catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction.” So here’s a fun challenge: Let’s bring back the paw paw. Down to Earth Markets been a venue for up-and-starting food entrepreneurs for years, but in this case, the new food company is serving a fruit that has been on this land for centuries. If you’re in the city this weekend, find Dan under his Paw Pawlicious tent at our farmers markets in Morningside Park and Park Slope – and let us know if you believe there’s a paw paw Renaissance to come!

Larchmont – Saturday, Oct. 11th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Flourish Baking Company
Hudson River Apiaries
Maupston Design Studio (Handspun yarns & roving)
Pie Lady & Son
Robinson & Co. Catering (British-inspired, locally-sourced prepared foods)
Samosa Shack
Trotta Foods

Ossining – Saturday, Oct. 11th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Hudson River Apiaries

Croton-on-Hudson – Sunday, Oct. 12th

The Peanut Principle (Gourmet nut & seed butters)
Trotta Foods (Locally-sourced Italian specialties)

Piermont – Sunday, Oct. 12th

e-Desserts
Taiim Falafel Shack

Rye – Sunday, Oct. 12th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Kontoulis Family Olive Oil
**NEW TO MARKET!** – French Press Cafe Hastings (freshly-prepared crepes)
Tuthilltown Spirits Farm Distillery