Pawpaw Paradise: The Banana of the North
As I write this, snow covers the ground amid a landscape resembling the tundra. Many bird species have migrated south, departing this frigid region for more mild climes. Waterways glaze over their surfaces with the pale luster of ice. And my banana trees rise through the snow just like the more familiar apples, pears and peaches.
Ok, I confess they aren’t ACTUALLY banana trees, yet one taste of the fruit they bear would be enough to convince anyone of their tropical origins. The truth lies somewhere in the middle of the two climatic extremes, for the Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is the only member of it’s family to venture this far north. All other members, from the semi-familiar cherimoya to the custard-apple, grow only in areas where Old Man Winter never wanders. Somewhere in the mists of time, Pawpaw decided to deviate from it’s siblings and acclimate itself to the eastern half of what became known as America.
Early settlers noted first the large tropical looking leaves, which seem oddly out of place in the hills of Appalachia. They noted also how the natives relished these sweet fruits and would tend to thick groves of them, even using the bark fibers for cordage. The tree was unbothered by any scourges, whether from insects, diseases or hungry deer, rabbits and voles. Unbeknownst to them, Pawpaws contain Annonaceous acetogenins which are effective deterrents for any would-be nibblers. As it turns out, those same compounds are among the most powerful anti-cancer agents ever discovered in the natural world. They are both preventative and curative and are being utilized in numerous products for cancer, as well as head lice. This is all to say how useful this relatively unknown tree is, far beyond just the taste of it’s fruit.
But, as a fruit grower and lover, that taste is exactly why I’ve come to love this tree. Imagine, if you will, a vanilla-banana custard dessert whipped to perfection. That is precisely what the ripe Pawpaw is, without any kitchen prep or appliances. But don’t just take my word for it. In 1704 in his ‘A New Voyage to Carolina’, John Lawson says “Papau is sweet, as sweet as anything can be“ and referenced the natives and how “they make rare puddings of this fruit“. A century later during the expedition of Lewis and Clarke, their crew began to run out of food when they encountered large wild thickets of pawpaws. A diary entry from September 18, 1806 reads “Our party entirely out of provisions subsisting on poppaws…..the party appear perfectly contented and tell us they can live very well on the poppaws“. And in 1946 Walter Havinghurst described them as “French custard, ready for serving, hung from the trees“.
One would think that a fruit such as this would be on every table, in every lunchbox and on every grocers shelf in its native country. Alas, the one trait that seems to keep this wonderful fruit out of the cultural consciousness is it’s short shelf life. Of course, this isn’t a problem at all for the home orchardist who can eat the fruit no further than in the shade of the tree from which it was picked! But it has certainly limited it’s spread as a shipping fruit that can sit on a shelf for weeks. Pawpaws go from ripe to over-ripe in a matter of days, though figs, bananas and avocados aren’t much better and that hasn’t stopped them from being grocery store staples. Plus, once frozen, the pulp stores just like any other frozen fruit would, ready to blend into incredible ice cream, smoothies and even into craft beer! I think the time has come for more backyard growers AND commercial orchards to grow Pawpaw as a pest and disease resistant organic fruit that has a passionate fanbase. Any orchard who does grow them sells out almost instantly. The potential is sky high!
Though perhaps the Pawpaw is best enjoyed as a rare treat for those of us “in the know“. Some breeding work has been done to produce larger, sweeter fruits with more pulp and less seeds but other than that, the tree hasn’t moved much out of the forest from where it still grows wild. Maybe to commercialize it would remove much of the lore and history surrounding this incredible native fruit. For now, we can enjoy these ancient fruits in the relative anonymity of our backyards, orchards and forests. For anyone living in eastern America, it seems silly to fuss over apples and peaches when there has always been a tree lurking in the woods perfectly suited to this region and waiting to be rediscovered. For me, that time is now and I hope many of you will join me in planting thickets of these amazing, ancient fruit trees. For when the snow melts, the birds return from their sunny holiday, and the water flows freely once again, Pawpaws will enliven the landscape with their lush tropical look and exquisite flavor!