Pawpaw? What’s a Pawpaw?

September 8, 2016

If you’re like many of us at the Food Bank of Delaware you might be wondering – pawpaw? What’s that? An endearing name for a grandfather? Nope. It’s a fruit!

Grown naturally throughout the United States and Canada, pawpaws are the largest edible fruit grown in the U.S. This powerful fruit contains cancer-fighting agents and is becoming popular at gourmet food stores and farmers markets.

The fruit must ripen on the tree, and if picked too early, it won’t develop its flavor! Pawpaws ripen late August through October and are best when eaten within a few days.

Thanks to the Delaware Center for Horticulture, our Delaware WONDER culinary class and a team of volunteers from Bank of America got to experience the pawpaw firsthand! 53 pounds of pawpaws from the Deep Run Pawpaw Orchard in Westminster, MD were delivered to the Food Bank in Newark earlier this week for processing. The Delaware Center for Horticulture asked the culinary team to process 40 pounds of skinned, seeded, pureed pawpaw pulp and two pounds of skinned, seeded, chunked pulp.

DCH will deliver the processed fruit to two businesses in our community for two unique culinary creations! UDairy Ice Cream will use the 40 pounds of pulp to make a special pawpaw ice cream, and Bellefonte Brewery will create a special beer with its two pounds of pulp. The two products will be available for tasting at the Delaware Center for Horticulture on September 24 as part of the Taste of Trolley event!

Thanks, DCH, for providing our students and volunteers with this unique opportunity!