I was very excited to try the papaya in its raw form without it being blended into something else, or processed beyond recognition. For starters, I was EXTREMELY surprised at how huge papayas are! I thought that they were roughly the size of mangos, but they are practically footballs. Look at the pictures below. The first one is the papaya by itself sitting on the counter, then I put a carton of eggs next to it for reference (I was going to lay my hand next to it for reference, but I have super small hands).
The first hurdle that I ran into was that I had absolutely no clue how to even cut/prepare a papaya. I looked it up on the Food Network website and the instructions were fairly simple: slice it in half longways like a watermelon, scoop out and discard the seeds, then scoop out the papaya and enjoy (or so I thought).
The instructions also noted that sprinkling some sugar on it was a good idea, but I wanted to taste the papaya's natural flavor so I decided not to add anything to it. Also, a lot of the comments on the preparation instructions said that it tasted better without anything added to it. Some of the comments recommended putting Tajin or Chamoy on the papaya, but I don't like any of those toppings, so I decided that leaving it plain was probably the best option to get the true flavor.
I took one bite and instantly decided that I only liked papayas if they were mixed into a smoothie or a juice. To me, it tasted like a cross between a cantaloupe and coffee with the same texture as cantaloupe. I love both of those things, but mixed together was an entirely different story. I thought that it might taste different because I had just pulled it out of the fridge, so I let it sit out on the counter for about an hour, and it didn't taste any better warm. So long story short, I really do not like papayas. I was actually pretty sad that I didn't like it because like I said earlier, I love different fruits and veggies and there are very few items that I don't like/will not eat. And most of the things on the list of what I won't eat are on that list because I am allergic to them.
I really wish that I like papayas by themselves, but it looks like I will only eat them if they are in smoothies or juices.
This was a great choice, Brittney! I'm used to seeing papaya used in the vitamin of the same name, but I didn't know that it was used in smoothies and juices. I'm tempted to look up any of those drinks that have papaya in it now. I understand that the taste was not to your liking and that you prefer it with the said two drink types.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really great blog post, I liked how you went into the different ways to prepare the fruit. It really showed that anyone could prepare wit with a variety of different ingredients. I've tasted one a long time ago but don't remember how it tastes so it was nice see such a deep description about the taste. Great job overall.
ReplyDeleteI was about to try the papaya myself but opted out. Interesting read. A few suggestions I would try is on the first sentence, change "by itself" to plain. On second paragraph, change "very excited" to eager. Change "pretty hard" to difficult on sentence after and take out "being" as well. I don't think "look at the picture below" is necessary for readers. I'd also work on the "some of the comments" sentence since it seems like a run on sentence. I would change at the sentence starting with "to me," to "in my opinion". The "i thought it might taste different" sentence sounds like a run on. I would change the second "and" in "i love fruit and veggies" sentence into "but" since it's a change from positive to negative. Lastly on the second to last sentence starting with "And", I would take out the "And". Other than that, I'm glad I did not pick papaya since I'd hope that something I buy would taste decent. Trying new dishes can be a gamble to me. Good job though!
ReplyDeleteI'd also change "pretty sad" to disappointed and take out "really" on the last sentence.
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