"papaya" news and stories

A papaya facial scrub. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

Papayas are large, luscious tropical fruits that I prefer to buy whole. After I make my smoothies and a fresh papaya cooler (that can also be spiked with rum for an impromptu party cocktail), I still find that there are plenty leftovers.

My friend Chad shares the leftovers with his cat, who adores papaya. He swears it's the reason for kitty's incredibly shiny coat. Since I don't have a cat and hate the idea of waste, I created a papaya facial that I can use when my budget for beauty products runs low.

Papaya makes an excellent facial, because it smells lovely, is naturally high in vitamin C, A, E -- an antioxidant-rich choice for the body inside and out. Get the recipe after the jump.

Fresh papayas are in season, and I keep finding myself in the grocery store, picking up various specimens and thinking "what are the chances I could eat all this before it went bad?"

I used to not like fresh papaya. I found them sickly sweet, tasting of cheap perfume with undertones of dirt. But that was before I learned to toss the fresh cubed fruit in copious amounts of lemon or lime juice, to cut the sweetness and bring out the intense floral notes. Cubes of coral-colored papaya make a beautiful addition to fruit salad (and they're a heck of a lot easier to cut than mango!); they're also terrific in smoothies or in sweet-tart salsa, served over salmon or Mahi-Mahi. But my favorite use is probably papaya sorbet. This Martha Stewart recipe, with lime juice and honey, is healthy enough to eat for breakfast. I bet it would be absolutely amazing in a parfait with granola and creamy, tart yogurt gelato.

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The papaya is easily one of the prettiest and most eye-catching tropical fruits widely available today. Whenever I have people over for brunch I try to set one out. The limes aren't just there for decoration, either. The acidity of the lime juice compliments the melon-like sweetness of the papaya perfectly. The variety here is likely a Mexican Red papaya, which is much larger than the pear-sized Hawaiian varieties. Some say the latter are more intensely flavored, but for my time and effort, the larger varieties are the way to go. They yield much more meat, are easier to peel and serve and, of course, make for a very impressive presentation. When ripe, a papaya will be mostly yellow on the outside and yield slightly to the touch. Remember, the lime juice is key. Papayas also contain an enzyme called papain, which supposedly settles the stomach and helps all sorts of digestive ailments.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]

These lovely little cupcakes called out to my spring-starved soul, lost in a sea of grey skies and 90% chance-of-showers. They sing of sun and tropical breezes, with their papaya and their lime and their coconut. Chockylit has the recipe; the cupcakes are made with coconut milk, with chopped papaya and shredded coconut stirred in before baking; and the icing is made of cream cheese, the usual butter and sugar, and flavored with fresh grated ginger, ground ginger and lime juice. You should also check out the whole photo essay on flickr.

[Photo chockylit, via Cupcake Takes the Cake flickr pool]

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From now until the end of August, one of my absolute favorite candies is having a contest. Jelly Belly's Taste the Mystery contest has put one of five mystery flavors into bags of Jelly Belly's and, by identifying the flavor in your bag and typing your secret code in on the contest website you have a chance to win the grand prize of $250,000 among other things. Admittedly, the odds of winning are slim, but I am mostly interested in the new flavors and not the grand prize. The question-marked jelly beans come in Apple Pie, Maple Syrup, Raisin, Ice Cream Sandwich and Papaya. This particular package of mine had the Ice Cream Sandwich beans and I can assure you that they are excellent. I hope they add at least a few of the new flavors to the famous 49-flavor mix when the contest ends.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

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