Where do the locals go? Anywhere that I have visited, stayed or set up home, that’s been the question. I wanted the local, dive restaurant in the Bahamas with the best cracked conch on the island. I was beyond grateful, when in a remote, mountain village in Costa Rica, to be invited to the maid’s wedding. I don’t want McDonald’s or other known, American fast food restaurants when I have the rare occasion to be in another country (although the local beef was much better in one that I tried). I want to experience what each region has to offer. So in Missouri, I am on the lookout for local fare.
I had the occasion to try morels. I liked them, I was excited when I found some in my yard. Perhaps they were talked up too much to me, as I was not as taken with them as some people seem to be, but knowing they are rare-ish and only in season for a short time, I was happy to try them.
I follow a wild edible/foraging page with fascination and love discovering what’s growing in the woods locally. I am not as adventurous as most of the members, but I like learning about what is right in my yard that can benefit me and my neighbors. I dove in to making plantain salve to relieve chigger bites and the wild rabbits love the plantain in the yard.
Another fabled food I have heard about is paw paws, scientifically called Asimina triloba. They are totally new to me. When we first arrived, one of our neighbors told us he had paw paws on his back property and was going to take us for a ride show them to us when they came in season. Sadly, he passed before that happened.
I have enjoyed the produce and products created by the Missouri State University’s Fruit Experimentation Station in town. From elderberry syrup and preserves to wine created by university students. It is housed in a gorgeous, old building across the road from acres of farmland used to grow elderberries, pears and grapes among other plants. In addition to research and coursework, the university has a small store. When I saw paw paws for sale there the other day, I decided it was time to try this mysterious fruit.
I heard it was a favorite of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I read all the ways to prepare them if I did not want to eat them raw (cream pie, ice cream and a substitute fruit in banana bread). I saw warnings of the toxicity of their seeds and skins that contain the neurotoxin Annonacin. There were many more in favor of posts than naysayers.
I stopped in and was happy to have a lesson on when they’re ripe. Ideally, they are a little mushy to the touch and skins are brown-ish, with little green left. They basically look like they are bad. They store better in the fridge. Anyone who has experience and explains them to me said that you either love or hate them. So I brought some home and the time came to try them.
After peeling off the skins and removing the sizable seeds, the moment arrived. I agreed with the description that they have a custardy consistency; it also reminded me of papaya, but only in feeling. The fruit did look like a rich, yellow custard inside. The flavor is a fleeting, sweetness, sort of banana, sort of mango, but its own. I was in the love-them camp.
Paw paws don’t last long and they don’t travel well, so that’s why I had never seen them in a store, other than the farm store near to where they were grown. How is it they grow in 26 states, but I had never heard of them?
The leaves of the paw paw trees contain acetogenins, which only one type of butterfly larvae is known to eat. In turn, predators won’t eat them. The bark is being studied for cancer fighting properties.
Next local fare: what does a persimmon taste like?