branching out

Every once in a while I get a little crazy and decide to eat something OTHER than mangoes, and one of those somethings is often a papaya. Now I must explain why this is such a big deal...I despise papaya. Fiercely. More than once I have compared the smell to wet dog. Probably the taste, too. Seriously, despise it. Or, at least, I did before I moved to Malaysia and had the best papapya I've ever eaten in my life, hands down. Even right before we moved here and we were at a gorgeous resort with amazing food in Cabo, Mexico... what did I eat that made me gag and want to go drink sea water to remove the taste? Papaya. But somehow that has all changed and now I can eat a whole one by myself, which is saying something because the ones here can be as big as your head. Here's a picture of one I bought recently.

I slice them open with a big ol' butcher knife, but I could use a butter knife because they are SOOOooo soft it really is like slicing into butter.

For some reason I love the seeds. I love how they look and smell. I read somewhere that they taste sort of peppery and can be used ground up in dressings. May have to try that someday. They also may have some sort of medicinal property. What a marvelous little fruit.

I just scrape the seeds out and then scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Seriously, it's so soft. Then I try not to eat it all as I'm scooping it out so there will actually be some for later.

Emily is trying papaya for the first time and I think she agrees with her momma that this is some pretty awesome stuff. Better than that nasty oat cereal, anyway.