Papayas have always looked interesting to me.  Those black seeds, do you eat them?  That salmon colored flesh looks so sweet and succulent.  Do they taste like mangos?   So the other day when I saw them on sale at our favorite vegetable market, I thought I’d give the papaya a day in court.  I’d answer the question for once and for all!  Do I like papaya?

PICT0312

I cut the papaya open.  The fruit gave way like butter, a good sign.  There it was, salmon flesh, seeds and all.  I took pictures before I tasted it as I didn’t want to bias my photography.  Once I had my documentation I went for it.  First, the seeds did not seem edible to me.  They were hard in the middle with a soft outside, like the membrane that lines an egg.  I would not be putting that into my mouth, thank you very much.  I scraped them into the trash can and moved onto the rest of the investigation.  I smelled it.  It smelled like…  nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  That was not a good sign.  Smell and taste are intimately tied, how could something without smell taste good?  However, limberger cheese smells of socks but tastes good, so I was still game.  Then came my first ever, and probably LAST ever taste of papaya.  I can’t even describe the taste, something like melon meets warm garbage perhaps?   I rarely spit things out, but I assure you that I spit that little bit of disgusting right into the trash can.    Then I dumped the rest of that vile fruit into the garbage along with the seeds and my masticted bite.  Yuck.  The answer is definitely: I DO NOT like papaya!


Comments are closed.