Skip to content
Food
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Pawpaw season has arrived, and it’s almost over. Here’s where to buy some.

The Philly area’s low-profile, tropical-flavored native fruit is in stores for about two weeks.

North America's largest edible native fruit, the pawpaw holds a tropical-like flavor, combining hints of papaya, mango, banana, and pineapple.
North America's largest edible native fruit, the pawpaw holds a tropical-like flavor, combining hints of papaya, mango, banana, and pineapple.Read moreGRACE DICKINSON / STAFF
    by Jenn Ladd
    Published 

It’s green on the outside, yellow and custardy on the inside. It has a slight give when you hold it, like a peach. It tastes like a cross between a mango and a banana. It’s North America’s largest edible fruit, and because it doesn’t travel well, it’s a rare treat.

It’s a pawpaw.

» READ MORE: Pawpaws: Where to find and how to eat fall’s best secret treat

We’ve told you about the pawpaw before. As reporter Grace Dickinson wrote a couple years ago, “Pawpaw trees grow in most of the eastern half of the United States, and as far west as Nebraska.” Though they were found in North America as far back as 1541, they fell out of fashion because they bruise easily and have a short shelf life.

You can forage for them in local forests and orchards, but you can also buy a pound or two at Weavers Way’s Upper Roxborough farm, located at 7095 Henry Ave. They are available for $7.99 a pound from 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. Riverwards Produce in Fishtown may also have some in stock.

There are about 25 pawpaw trees growing in the orchard at Weavers Way’s Henry Avenue farm, located at Saul Agricultural High School. (There’s a couple more at the co-op’s other farm in Awbury Arboretum.) Farmhands started harvesting the fruits last Thursday and every couple days thereafter, picking 20 to 30 pounds each time. In a week’s time — two if we’re lucky — pawpaw season will be over.

Farm manager Nina Berryman recommends eating or using the creamy fruits within a day or so of buying them. (Keep them refrigerated.) A perfectly ripe pawpaw should be soft and fragrant. They can be used to make ice cream, jam, or pudding. But you don’t need a recipe: “I like to cut them open and scoop it out with a spoon, kind of like an avocado, just simple and straight,” Berryman said.

There’s no limit to how many you can buy, she added. “If we sell out, that’s great.”

» READ MORE: Caramel-sweet and elusive, American persimmons are at their ripest. Here’s where to eat them in Philly.