Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Adventures in Papaya-ing.

My only previous memories of papaya are those of dried, sugar infused chunks in various trail mixes over the years. So, whilst dickin' around at Costco over the weekend, I noticed some fresh ones on sale and thought, "Yeah, I'd hit that."

After not-so-patiently waiting for it to ripen (and I think it could've used another day or two...), I watched a quick YouTube video on how to prepare the damn thing and went at it this evening. (I figured since this thing was gigantic, I should probably get some basic instructions first. Good call.)

The Big 'N':



His innards:



Caviar's doppelganger:



Success:



I survived the whole process sans injuries! Woo! (Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm not all that careful around knives or burners, it would seem. Or windshield wiper blades, apparently.)

My first fresh papaya. The taste was pretty good, but not mind-blowing. It just made me want some cantaloupe. And again, this may be because it wasn't at that perfect level of ripeness. But it is indeed still sweet. Either way, I've got 3 big ol' plastic tubs of the stuff now though, so I better put my game face on.

5 comments:

Meredith @ Sweat Every Day said...

when I lived in mexico, my house-mom would make papaya all the time. I wasn't a fan of it straight up, but if you mash it up a bit (or cheat and put it through the food processor) and then add it to water, it makes a really good substitute for like crystal light. also if you find green papaya, you can make thai papaya salad that is amazing.

Tamara said...

@Meredith @ Sweat Every Day

Oooh, nice! Thanks for the tips! (Esp. the Thai suggestion!)

She-Fit said...

I love Papaya! Now I want some :)

Amanda (Two Boos Who Eat) said...

I have never tried a papaya. Now I'm thinking I should head over to Costco and check it out. I bet it'd be awesome in a smoothie.

Tamara said...

@Amanda (Two Boos Who Eat)

Yes, I was definitely thinking of adding it to a smoothie too, given the texture. And since I have so much of it, I'll probably try it tomorrow or over the weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out!