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[1] What’s for brunch? A bagel with citrus cream cheese and papaya ribbons. The recipe is below (photo © Southern Selects).
[2] There are numerous subspecies of Carica papaya, demonstrating different sizes, shapes, and flavor nuances (photo © Alleksana | Pexels).
[3] A shorter, rounder variety (photo © Little Plant | Unsplash).
[4] The papaya “tree” isn’t a tree, but a giant herb—just like the banana. The green fruits turn yellow when ripe (photo © Brooks Tropicals).
[5] Green papaya salad. Here’s the recipe (photo © Rasa Malaysia).
[6] A papaya boat can be a first course, or served with yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast. Here’s the recipe (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).
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September is National Papaya Month and it’s the weekend, so how about something outside the box: papaya on a bagel instead of smoked salmon? Lemon cream cheese brings the right counterpoint so that the papaya is right at home on the bagel of your choice.
The recipe, Papaya Ribbons with Lemon Cream Cheese on Toasted Bagels, was created by Southern Selects, a grower of premium products, as a creative way to use its papayas.
> The history of bagels.
> The history of cream cheese.
> The history of the papaya is below.
> There are more delicious papaya recipes below.
RECIPE: PAPAYA (OR MANGO) RIBBONS WITH LEMON CREAM CHEESE ON TOASTED BAGELS
We didn’t have a ripe avocado when we made this recipe, but we didn’t miss it.
Ingredients
1 papaya, ripe (substitute mango)
1 lemon
1 avocado, ripe
½ small red onion
1 package whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon honey
Fresh bagels
Optional for serving: lemon wedges
Preparation
1. CUT the papaya (or mango) in half, scoop out and discard the seeds. Slice the halves into 4 sections lengthwise. Trim the skin from the flesh.
2. USE a vegetable peeler or a mandolin to thinly slice the papaya flesh into ribbons.
3. CUT the flesh of halved avocado into thin slices. Cut the onion into thin slices and place both on the side.
4. ZEST the lemon with a grater. Combine the lemon zest, cream cheese, and honey. Toast the bagels. When the bagels are ready…
5. SPREAD the cream cheese mixture on one side of the toasted bagel and top with sliced papaya and then avocado. You can add a couple drops of lemon juice on top of the bagel, or serve it with a lemon wedge.
MORE PAPAYA RECIPES
Savory Recipes
Today, the fruit can be found in a variety of cultures and their foods, ranging from savory to sweet. Note that you can easily substitute papaya for mango in most recipes.
Asparagus & Papaya Spring Rolls With Sweet Red Chili Dipping Sauce
Caramelized Salmon With Cherry-Papapa Salsa
Green Papaya Salad
Honolulu Hot Dog
Papaya Recipes For Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Sweet Recipes
Chilled Papaya & Watermelon Soup
Grilled Scallops, Papaya & Persimmon
Grilled Tropical Fruit Skewers
Papaya Boat Fruit Salad
Papaya Shave Ice
Ways To Enjoy Papaya
Cocktails
Cocktail Garnishes
Papaya-Tequila Smash Cocktail
PAPAYA HISTORY & USES
The papaya, Carica Papaya L., is believed to have originated in southern Mexico and eastern Central America. Also known as the pawpaw*, the papaya is one of the 22 species in the genus Carica of the family Caricaceae, a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales. (If that sounds familiar, see footnote †).
The name arrives from ababai, a word in the Carib language of South America.
It may represent the fusion of two or more species of Carica that are native to Mexico and Central America [source].
The papaya was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, in the area of modern-day southern Mexico and Central America. By the time the Spanish arrived, in 1529, the papaya had already spread throughout Central America and into South America.
Spanish invaders greatly enjoyed the salmon-orange-colored fruit and planted it throughout the Caribbean and South America. The Spanish then introduces it to Asia via the Philippines. It spread to India, and eventually to Europe.
By the 17th Century, Dutch and Portuguese colonists had brought papaya to Africa and then onto the Far East, where it became an integral part of the cuisines of Southeast Asia [source].
By the 19th century, the fruit was being cultivated in all of the world’s tropical regions [source].
And why not: The succulent fruit, moderately sweet, has those special qualities that say “tropical!” even if you were blindfolded and given a bite.
The fruit became popular for breakfast and green salads, pies, not to mention confections, juice, pie, sherbet, and other desserts. You can also toss halves on the grill, or add them to skewers.
Fresh papaya and avocado complement each other nicely. Include papaya in avocado boats (delicious with seafood salad) or add dice to the top of guacamole.
Cubes or small slices of fresh papaya make a colorful plate garnish, and complement fish, meat, and poultry.
Slices of dried papaya go well on a cheese or charcuterie board. Diced dried papaya is delicious in cookies, muffins, popcorn, trail mix, and as a garnish for ice cream and other desserts. A few cubes on top of whipped cream is a lovely pop of color.
The unripe (green) papaya can be cooked like squash, and raw it is delicious julienned for salad or slaw, or pickled.
Like the banana, the papaya is botanically a berry. It may look like it grows from a tall tree, but both papaya and banana are the fruits of an herb.
In 1932, Papaya King, a New York City hot dog stand, was the first to start what became a papaya juice craze. It’s still around, replicated by other mini chains such as Gray’s Papaya and Papaya Dog.
In 2020, India produced 43% of the world supply of papayas [source].
Papaya (is the third most cultivated tropical crop worldwide [source].
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*Among other names for papaya are mamao, melon zapote, and papayo. But wait: Papaya is also known as papaw in Australia and other parts of the world. However, in the U.S., a pawpaw is not a papaya but an indigenous, mango-shaped fruit.
†Brassicaceae (brah-si-KAY-see-ay), a high-antioxidant Brassicaceae family of flowering plants, was formerly called the Cruciferae and is sometimes called the Brassicas. cruciferous vegetables, mustard family, or cabbage family. The vegetables are nutritional powerhouses, packed with potent, cancer-fighting phytonutrients. Members include arugula, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, horseradish/wasabi, kale, kohlrabi, mizuna, mustard greens, radish, rapeseed/canola, rapini, rutabaga, tatsoi, turnips, and watercress, among others.
‡Carib or Kari’nja is a Cariban language spoken by the Kalina people (Caribs) of South America. It is spoken by around 7,400 people mostly in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil.
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