SWEET PAPAYA

Papaya is a favorite Filipino fruit. It is not  native to the Philippines but  we have learned to love it as our own.  In the province of Batangas where I grew up, papayas were available everywhere. There's always papaya trees growing in people's backyards or frontyards. The green raw papaya was mainly used as vegetable. It was cooked in the traditional Filipino dishes such as tinola, bulanglang, ginataang papaya and a favorite condiment called achara. 

        Ginataang papaya, slices of raw, green papaya cooked in coconut milk

                              Tinola, a classic Filipino soup dish

Tinola is a classic Filipino dish, traditionally cooked with slices of green papaya, sili leaves, chicken, garlic, ginger and broth. Of course, since I became a vegetarian at the age of 22, I now cook tinola without chicken for myself and my family. The wonderful flavor of tinola remains however, because of the green papayas and the sili leaves.

                              Bulanglang, the national dish of Batangas

Another famous soup dish in Batangas that I love to eat since childhood is called bulanglang - - THE national dish of Batangas. It uses green papaya strips. It is cooked with kibal (a variety of string beans), young squash, young eggplant, patani or kadios, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and malunggay,  

                                               Precious Papaya Tree

Nevertheless, it is always good to have papaya trees around where you live.  

Papaya is a soft, versatile fruit that can be easily added to your diet. 

                                               You can make fresh papaya salsa

Eat it fresh or make a fresh salsa with mashed papaya, mango, chili pepper and spices.   Use as a topping for fried tofu or tokwa, veggie meat or any vegetable pakora (fritters).

Combine with bananas, pineapple juice and sugar to make a smoothie.

                                                            Oatmeal and granola

I like eating slices of papaya for breakfast with my oatmeal and granola, or oatmeal and raisins or oatmeal and bread. It feels light yet satisfying. 

                           Papaya is nice combined with watermelon

In my family, papaya is also eaten combined with watermelon as an after meal fruit dessert.  

  
                                            Tropical fruit salad

Or with slices of bananas, strawberries, mangoes, peaches  or avocados together in a bowl as a tropical fruit salad.

                             Papaya juice combined with pineapple juice

 Or sometimes papaya is made into juice and then combined with pineapple juice.  

                                       Papaya with yoghurt or kefir topping

Or it is cut into cubes and served with yoghurt or kefir as topping. 

Nutrients

Aside from good taste, papaya is also a source of  a lot of nutrients. It is  high in Vitamin C and A, as well as fiber and healthy plant compounds. At the same time, papaya has powerful antioxidant effects and  anticancer properties, plus a host of so many other health benefits.

It is regarded  to play a protective role in eye health, and prevents age-related macular degeneration.  Zeaxanthin, an antioxidant found in papaya, filters out harmful blue light rays. 

                         Papaya has healing and nutritious blessings

Papayas are a good source of folate, magnesium, copper and pantothenic acid. They also have Vitamin  E,  B vitamins, alpha and beta-carotene, lutein, calcium, potassium, vitamin K, and lycopene. 

History

Papaya has a long, long history dating back to the 15^th century. It was first brought here to the Philippines by the Spaniards from Mexico via the galleon trade.

And even before that, in its native land Mexico, papaya had been planted and eaten by the Mexican people since ancient times. Mexican culture began about 7,000 years ago.

Galleon Trade

The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, was a business run by the Spanish colonizers from 1565 to 1811, One hundred ten Manila galleon ships sailed back and forth between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico during the 250 years of trading.  

                                                Galleon Ship Sailing

The galleon trade was based on trade with China.  

During the time of the galleon trade,  every month of June, galleon ships  were loaded with China-made silk, porcelain and other consumer goods.  They sailed  northwards from Manila to the port of Acapulco, Mexico.

On the return trip, fruits from Mexico were transported to Manila like  guava, pineapple, papaya, avocado, kasuy, atis, anonas, guyabano, camachile, sinegwelas, chico, caimito and cacao. Even our camote, singkamas, mani, sayote, achuete and mais, all came from Mexico! 

And that was how this wondrous fruit papaya came to our shores.

As time went on, galleon trade declined and disappeared in the end.

                                               Raw Papaya Fruits

As for the papayas, they grew quite well on Philippine soil and bore fruits, gradually becoming well-loved  favorite Filipino fruits for the next many centuries.

                                                          ~0~

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