Paw Paw Fruit In the T.O

[kikibaba]

Could anyone shed some light on where to find PAW PAW fruit in Toronto?

Thanks Chris

[Canuckamuck]

Just bought some today at the Brickworks Farmers Market from the Forbes Wild Foods booth - I think their website is wildfoods.ca

[Full tummy]

Thanks for sharing!

[aftonav]

Its in the same family as custard apple but not quite the same and it is not a papaya. I had never heard of it until recently and yet its the largest indigenous fruit in Ontario and the US, unbelievable how it hasnt been cultivated on some sort of commercial level. These are really good links about it and hopefully someone can find it here. I imagine since it is so large, its season is late in the summer like apples or peaches. Two really good links here explain it better.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark/pawpaw.html
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Cr...

[yumyumdimsum]

They sell them in China town under the name custard apple. Not sure when they're in season but I see them somewhat often.

[Full tummy]

Are you sure?

Wikipedia identifies custard apple as something very different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard-...

[Full tummy]

No, papaya is not the same thing. I have never seen pawpaw in Toronto stores. I recently purchased some pawpaw seedlings from Grimo Nut Nurseries in Niagara, Ontario, and am hoping for some in the next couple of years.

[currycue]

I didn't know that, do explain the difference if you can. My folks are from Trinidad and always called Papaya "Paw Paw". I always thought it was the English word for it as opposed to the Spanish. (Just like Soursop or Guanabana)

[mikeb]

It's the same in Australia--papaya are called paw paw.

[pearlD]

It is the same in Jamaica as well...only the tourists call them 'papaya'......someone else on this board thought they were called 'custard apple' but in Jamaica that is nothing near a 'pap paw' either in appearence or taste (totally different in fact)

[obstructionist]

They are different, see the Wikipedia entries for each: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawpaw and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaya

[mikeb]

But not always....From the first line in your link "This page refers to the U.S. pawpaw in the genus Asimina. In some other parts of the world, the name pawpaw is applied to the unrelated tropical fruit papaya (Carica papaya)"

[l_izzie]

By "paw paw", Do you mean papaya? I have heard both of these terms for the same fruit. I bought a good looking one today at Whole Foods, but have seen the same large ones on occasion at Loblaws and other supermarkets. Hope you find one.