Tuesday, October 6, 2009

My flip flop with papaya

Do you have fruits which you once detested as a child and turned around to love them when you grew up? I have many, but papaya leapfrogs the others. Often I reason that most of which I loathed back then happened to the ones excessively available or grown at home. The novelty fades and so does the taste.

We had almost ten papaya trees (with young ones growing around them) that would fruit profusely. Nearly every meal had papaya in it - salad, main course, desserts - in its raw or ripe avatar. No sooner did I smell the fruit at the dining table than I switched off and felt no hunger. I've been on hunger strikes to oppose papayas in my meals. Nonetheless, I was petrified of Ma. One grim look from Ma, and the food went right down my food pipe grudgingly. In some rare moments I would underhandedly sift through the serving on my plate, and dole out chunks to our dog under the table. I never got caught but I have a feeling she knew what I did. Mothers always know!

What is puzzling is that many years later, I have discovered a new found love for papayas. I don't quite remember how the U turn happened but raw or ripe, I find it both edible and tasty. now. During my trip back home, Ma stood stunned and amused when I told her I photographed the papaya tree and savored the fruit in my salad. Promptly, Ma conveyed her utter amazement to Dad who enthusiastically offered to pack a papaya plant for my balcony garden in Delhi.
Goodness, growing papayas in containers ! Now, that I call is far-fetched.

The fruit has high nutritional benefits and is a powerhouse of vitamins. A proteolytic enzyme called papain (highly concentrated in the skin of raw papaya) aids digestion and is highly recommended. The fruit has remarkable anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing properties besides being rich in dietary fiber, foliate, vitamin A, C, E, carotene, calcium and iron.

Papayas can be grown from seeds. They grow fast but needs care in its early stages. They love tropical climate and need lot of sunlight, water and good soil mix. Papaya plants can be either male, female or bisexual. The male does not produce fruit, so to be sure you'll have to plant extra ones. The plants/trees starts flowering when they are little over a meter tall. The flowers on the male plant can be recognized from the heavy blooms and slender stalks, while female plants have a single large bloom, and short stems. Papaya trees need nitrogen rich fertilizers and fruit all the year round except in peak winters. The trees grows weaker and yields less as they age so new plants every three years is ideal.

28 comments:

  1. I too have detested papaya as a child because of the smell. I am now trying to like it but still find it difficult with some varieties with a strong smell. I detested dasheen leaves that is made into callaloo a spinach like dish. I stayed with some cousins in a remote area in Grenada for a few weeks. They cooked callaloo everyday. It was in rice, in a stew , in soup and I ate fruit instead. Then one day they cooked some soup and by that time I was raving hungry. So I decided to try some , I finished the bowl and asked for more like Oliver Twist. Today I yearn for Callaloo in any form. Here in Barbados it is not known and cooked often like in Grenada and Trinidad.http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/2009/09/callaloo-ii.html

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  2. Oh where I grew up we had never heard of anything so exotic as a papaya. It wasn't until I was well into university years that I first came across a papaya. I must confess it took me a few tries to warm up to it but now I quite like it, esp. in a fruit shake or with plain yogurt.

    On quite another matter, I've tagged you to play the game of photo -tag. Please see my last blog post for brief instructions :-)

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  3. UG, you have a banana plant in a container - a papaya plant is probably no different... :). 10 papaya trees - I can imagine why papaya turned you off.

    P/s you write well - I love reading your posts :)

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  4. How great to grow a papaya on a balcony! My Mom just grew about 8 trees from seed and they are really getting huge! I will share your info on them with her too! I may need to put a few in my backyard as well. FUN!

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  5. Did you say anti-ageing? I am wondering when in the morning the closest grocery store will open?

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  6. I never got the chance to eat much other than apples and oranges where I grew up....small town life...lol...but I can say that I don't like apples now!

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  7. I have not seen a raw papaya cut open before. Gosh the fruit look so white like colourless. I love papaya fruit anytime. Some people do not like the taste but I do :-)

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  8. I have not tasted papaya before but can understand you really got tired of it as a child! Funny now that you are growing it on your balcony! Thanks for visiting me and I am following you now too. Hope you have a great day.

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  9. The papaya is an amazingly rich source of the proteolytic enzymes. These are the chemicals that enable the digestion of protein. Papain, which is the most important of these enzymes in the papaya, is extracted and dried as a powder for use to aid the digestion, and it is often used as a meat tenderizer, the enzyme partially breaking down the meat fibres - digesting them in fact.


    acai

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  10. Hi UG,

    You bought back really very fond memories. In my place papaya is like a poor man's vegetable(raw) as well as fruit(ripe) because of it's low price. As a kid we had a single papaya plant in our front yard which used to bear fruits in plenty.
    I also remember the papaya plant being identified as male one once it started flowering, one which would never fruit. But then someone suggested to just pierce a small wooden piece towards it's bottom to make it bear fruit. We followed the advise and in few days it started bearing fruit (strange local knowledge/expertise one may say).

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  11. Oh how I hated papaya. But yes, as I grew up I too developed a fondness for this fruit. With time and increasing awareness I came to know about its health benefits, and now I love and respect this fruit.
    Recently I was introduced to papaya shake by a friend and it had me addicted..

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  12. My wife hates papaya too, but I find it OK. I've never tried it green though - we have three trees. I will try to make a salad sometime :)

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  13. What a beautiful papaya tree. Don't think I have ever seen one before. I finally tried papaya a year or two ago. Truthfully it didn't have any flavor. Maybe it wasn't ripe enough or too ripe, not sure.

    Thanks for visiting my blog. I've signed on to follow yours.

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  14. I imagine the papayas grown around you are better than the ones we get at the grocery store in the middle of the U.S. I'm sure I had some papaya a long time ago, but don't remember what they taste like. I like mangos once in awhile. Do they grow near you?

    Thanks for your nice comment on my pity party post.

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  15. The papaya is an exotic, imported fruit here, lovely in a summer salad. It's fascinating to hear about it in its home environment. I shall have a new appreciation for it! :)

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  16. Almost all the information was new to me. Thanks so much for sharing the wonder of Papaya :)

    Thoseghar Waterfall

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  17. @Helen: Thanks for that link. It's a treasure house. Thanks a lot. I'm going to figure out if dasheen is available here or probably, try my variations to the recipe.

    @Joyful: Thanks for stopping by and the photo-tag. I'll definitely post soon. Do come by again.

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  18. @Evelyn: Exactly. Imagine 10 trees and the quantity of fruits! I often thought of burying them some nights.
    I'm glad you like my posts, and stop by regularly to appreciate. Thanks!

    @Julie: Hi! will look forward to your mum's story. hope it goes well...thanks for visiting my blog, see you around.

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  19. @Tatyana: Anti-ageing! Anti-ageing! Anti-ageing!
    *Urban green shouting out aloud*

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  20. @Tootsie: So nice! Despite of so much you have at hand to wind up, you take the time to visit my blog. Thanks a lot!
    you don't like apples? what about apple cinnamon cake?

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  21. @Stephanie: Yay yay yay! you like papayas!
    *Urban Green offloads a cart full of papayas at Stephanie's home*
    Re raw papayas, they act as meat tenderizers and often used in making kebabs (rolls).

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  22. @Mildred: Welcome to my blog. Glad you stopping by to leave a comment. do come back again!

    @Neil: Thanks a lot for your continued interest in my blog. The powder bit of information is new, thanks for sharing.

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  23. @Raja: small wooden piece did the trick? really? Wow! amazing!
    am sure there is more to this trick, some scientific and convincing explanation...

    @Green thumb: Me too, me too. I'm so glad am not alone :)

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  24. @Julian: Welcome!
    If you are a non-vegetarian, you could try adding in boiled and mashed raw papayas to minced meat and make deep/shallow fried rolls.
    See you around.

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  25. @Susie: Thanks for stopping by. Sorry to hear about your experience. *Urban Green e-nudged Susie to give it another chance*


    @Sue: No doubt, home grown fruits are a delight!! I love mangoes too - one of my favorites. I have mango trees in my dad's garden and my in-laws have it too. I have one large tree right opposite my home in Delhi...
    so there is no dearth of mangoes trees here, you could spot it somewhere or the other.

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  26. @Ms. S: Have you tried growing one at home or are you saying the weather is not conducive? Papaya trees rarely disappoint. Hope you get to try and succeed with one.

    @Bhavesh: Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad photographers like you are visiting my blog and spending time here. See you around :)

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  27. Isn't it funny how our tastes change as we get older? I used to hate tomatoes as a kid, now I stand in the garden and eat them right off the plant.
    I don't know if I've ever tried papaya. It's pretty expensive here. I can't imagine having so much around. Did you decide to try and grow it in a container?

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  28. @Catherine: Thanks for stopping by. I think I'm going to skip growing them in containers...especially since I need to have about 2-3 of them to be sure of the species.

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Thanks for stopping by.