Papaya

A review of Fruit #6 on my quest for trying a new fruit every week.



Uniqueness: The papaya is a melon-type fruit. It looks melony from the outside, but it's a really beauty when you split it in two. Its interiors range from a sweet orange color to a punchy pink, and it spills over with delicate black seeds that are so cute that it's hard to throw them away. The papaya is one of the Clark Kents of fruit--your normal fella from the outside but throw it into a phonebooth and you've got yourself one vibrant fruit from the inside.

Flavor and consistency: I really really wanted to like the papaya as it's a really lovely-looking fruit. But again, like the persimmon, I think the flavor may be a bit too rich for my tastes. (Though, as with other fruits I've eaten, maybe at a different stage of ripeness it may taste a little less potent--it's hard to be sure.) It has a lovely aftertaste that rings of honey which is a definite perk. But it has a very potent and none-too-pleasant smell to it when split in two, almost shoe-like in nature. And they say that scent is a large part of taste, so whenever you approach your mouth with a piece, it is hard to disconnect your palate from the shoe-scent. And the initial flavor of the papaya is a bit... off, for lack of a better word. I hit a few pieces in the course of nibbling that were dead on delicious, but they were few and far between, and too many were shoe-like in the course of trying to find the perfect ones that I lost interest in chowing on it. In fact, picking some up again today, I was unable to eat more than a few pieces before I got grossed out again.

Healthiness: No real extraordinary health-perks--read more HERE.

Ease of consumption: No more difficult to handle than a canteloupe. Slice it open, scoop out seeds, cut off peel, dice and eat.

Complaints: Really, it's just the weirdness of flavor. I'd like to try it again sometime when someone ELSE has offered me some (and KNOWS how ripe the perfect papaya need be). Also, the price is a big turn-off. It cost me $4 or so for ONE papaya. Not something I'd WANT to indulge in on a regular basis anyways, simply for cost purposes.

Overall: I wasn't blown away, which stinks because I wanted to be. The diced up papaya I had sitting out when I had some folks over this past Friday received the same reaction--dislike and also some scrunched-up grossed-out facial expressions. Again, I'd like to give it a second chance in the hopes that perhaps it just wasn't as ripe as it could be. But if this is the way papaya NORMALLY tastes, I'd have to say that I'm not too big a fan.

Grade: C-

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