Wednesday, May 16, 2007

what's the point of papaya?

is it just me, or does papaya at all times, even when it's a perfect specimen, at perfect ripeness, taste like rotten?

i understand the visual appeal -- the deep orange flesh, the center cavity filled with caviar-looking seeds -- all very nice. and i like the concept a lot: tropical summery goodness, just squeeze on some lime and scoop. but every time i get lured in by its exotic appeal, i'm disappointed. even in maui, taking a stab at what should have been an ideal one, i took one bite, and bleh. it's just not good.

am i missing something here? did the taste of fusty rottenness become a good thing at some point? someone clue me in.

[thanks Smaku for the gorgeous photo]

12 comments:

themirthmobile said...

i think papaya is totally rank. in cuba the word is slang for female genitals, not sure if there's a correlation there; so they use "fruta bomba" instead. i do not think it is the bomb. but someone must like it, right?

Virginia said...

The only benefit to papayas that I can tell is the instant laxative effect. Otherwise, I find it meh. But my father loves it. Go figure.

tannaz said...

totally rank, right? what the hell? also, mirthmobile, is your blog my blog's separated-at-birth twin or what? that coconut-kiwi tres leches cake looks insane.

and virginia, yes, yes, laxative and all that, but hello, that's why god invented coffee.

Erin S. said...

I am with you 100%.

tspwlv said...

Barf. Papaya is so unappetizing. It's supposed to have tenderizing qualities. Who cares? It's still gross.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

You are not the only one!

Papaya isn't very interesting! I disliked it's non, yet bizarre taste and extreme sweetness. To be able to eat it, I had to wash it down with lime juice ;-P...

themirthmobile said...

i know! we have doppelganger blogs. ha ha. i was actually thinking of changing my layout but i'm kind of lazy.

Coffee & Vanilla said...

I agree it has funny taste but I like it :)

Margot

greg said...

It's really good as a shake. The flavor is subtle, and nice with milk and sugar. I love the papaya shake from Go Veggie.

But yeah, it does kinda taste funny by itself.

Shayne said...

you are not the only one, yuk!

tannaz said...

i'm glad to see we're (almost) all in accordance here.

greg likes them in a shake, but he also really likes avocado in a shake, so there's no accounting for him.

and margot, i don't know what to say about you. i feel like this is some sort of emperor's new clothes situation: the papaya lobby must be pretty damn strong.

Ethan said...

I picked up one today at a local store expecting to expand my taste palette. I truly wish I had read this first because I found it to have an offensive smell only comparable to sweaty gym socks and a taste that was right in line with the offensive odor. Truly a worthless fruit unless you like the taste/texture of cantaloupe plucked from a dumpster.