Off topic, but in Portugal was the first time me, a Central European, ever ate a ripe Papaya. Yum! Thanks to the Azores. The shit you get in the supermarkets round here is useless. Same for mangoes, usually.
You are in luck then, because both are climacteric fruits, meaning they continue to ripe after being harvested, due to producing ethylene gas that triggers the ripening
Throw them in a paper bag and let them rest at room temp. If you want to speed up the process, add a ripe banana or apple (or other ripe climacteric fruits)
You might have eaten a different cultivar than those exported. In that case, I agree, there are so many different varieties that we never get to taste, supermarkets usually only have 1 or 2 different types
It’s baffling to me how customisable some fruit features can be. I know someone who works in plant genomics and cultivation and it’s really cool how they can use genomic analysis alongside selective breeding to select for traits. I imagine that imported papayas are cultivars that are easier to transport internationally.
Off topic, but in Portugal was the first time me, a Central European, ever ate a ripe Papaya. Yum! Thanks to the Azores. The shit you get in the supermarkets round here is useless. Same for mangoes, usually.
You are in luck then, because both are climacteric fruits, meaning they continue to ripe after being harvested, due to producing ethylene gas that triggers the ripening
Throw them in a paper bag and let them rest at room temp. If you want to speed up the process, add a ripe banana or apple (or other ripe climacteric fruits)
The taste just isn’t the same.
You might have eaten a different cultivar than those exported. In that case, I agree, there are so many different varieties that we never get to taste, supermarkets usually only have 1 or 2 different types
It’s baffling to me how customisable some fruit features can be. I know someone who works in plant genomics and cultivation and it’s really cool how they can use genomic analysis alongside selective breeding to select for traits. I imagine that imported papayas are cultivars that are easier to transport internationally.