Pawpaws

Native to eastern North America, the pawpaw is the continent's largest native tree fruit and one of its best-kept culinary secrets. Its smooth green skin conceals a soft, custard-like flesh with a tropical flavor often compared to banana, mango, vanilla, and citrus. Although sometimes called the "prairie banana" or "poor man's banana," the pawpaw is unlike any other fruit, offering a rich, creamy texture that has delighted foragers and gardeners for centuries.

Pawpaws were enjoyed by many Native American tribes long before European settlement, and early explorers—including Lewis and Clark—are known to have relied on them when other provisions ran short. Today, the trees grow naturally from the Great Lakes south to northern Florida and west into the Mississippi River Valley, thriving in rich woodland soils. Because the ripe fruit bruises easily and has a very short shelf life, pawpaws are rarely found in grocery stores, making farmers' markets and local orchards one of the best places to discover them.

Pawpaws are most often enjoyed fresh, scooped from the skin with a spoon, though their creamy flesh also shines in breads, muffins, ice cream, custards, smoothies, and other desserts, where it can often be substituted for banana. LocalHarvest makes it easy to find fresh pawpaws from nearby growers during their brief late-summer and early-autumn season—a treat well worth seeking out while it lasts.