Michigan Banana

 

That sounds like the punch line to a joke, but it’s just one colorful alias among many for a curious fruit. The paw paw also goes by Hoosier banana, poorman's banana, etc. I say curious, because it seems out place, as if it should come from the tropics. Yet this is truly an unique American specimen, its growing range covering the Great Lakes down to the Gulf, and from Texas east to the coast. It tends to thrive in the Midwest; the individual varieties themselves evoke visions of the heartland: Shenandoah, Allegheny, Taytwo, and Pa. Golden. 

 

     

 

Though I hail from Michigan myself, this year brought my first encounter with the paw paw. Visually, it could be mistaken for a small green mango, the size varying from three to six inches in length. On slicing it open, a soft white to yellow flesh is revealed, with a central grouping of hard, brown seeds. The fragrance hits you immediately- notes of banana, mango, and melon all combined. The appearance, texture, and flavor all call to mind the exotic cherimoya, or guanabana- indeed it is a distant relative, the only member of the Annonaceae family that thrives in a temperate climate.

 

     

 

Our first delivery of paw paws would be our only one. The season is ridiculously short, straddling the last weeks of September into the first of October. Due to its fragility and quick ripening, commercial viability is limited. They don’t ship well; each of our samples arrived carefully nestled in foam packaging and bubble-wrap. To preserve what we didn’t eat immediately, I figured the best test was to incorporate them into a sorbet. And without any other guideline to follow, we moved ahead by referencing its tropical cousins.

 

     
 

 

Download: Paw Paw Sorbet- Workbook 23.10.09

 

Keep these in mind when the season rolls in again next year; the best source for fresh paw paws (and more) is Earthy Delights.

 

 

 

Comments

[Timothy Horst]

Very nice! I would never have guessed it's from the midwest. Thanks for the link to Earthy Delights. Great selection of product.

[Shawn the Baker]

I'm in the Shenandoah valley and we got in some paw paw a couple weeks ago. I prepped ice cream using Johnny Iuzzini's recipe for strawberry ice cream. It's an eggless recipe.
I think the flavor was improved by adding a vanilla bean. We paired the paw paw ice cream with German chocolate cake and butterscotch chocolate bark.