Monday, April 17, 2006

Papaya, Rasbperries and a Squeeze of Lime




In Brazil papaya is something that we always have in our shopping list. It's cheap, abundant..and terribly sweet. We often have it for breakfast. Growing up I would also have papaya smoothies - often with a banana and milk. I am talking ripe papaya. Not the unripe ones I see quite often around here. No wonder many of my friends who have tried it do not like it. I don't eat it often enough these days as they are terribly expensinve in the UK - at least £1 for a quite often unripe one. Even so every so often I indulge and buy myself a couple. I eat them with no reservation. Do not even like to share. I was watching TV last night and saw Nigella Lawson cutting one little papaya in half, scooping the seeds out and filling each half with fresh raspberries. To finish it off she squeezed some lime juice on it. I have to admit to an initial shock horror expression on my face at seeing that. After all I always had my papaya untouched, not mixed with anything. However, curiosity killed the cat, and this morning I reserved half of a papaya I had lying around and tried to replicate what I saw. To my surprise the result was a lovely surprise. The lime does indeed brings out the papaya flavour, and it all combined with the sharpness of the raspberries adds up to a wonderful experience. Have you ever tried it like that?

8 comments:

Akemi said...

What interesting mix! It´s a pity that papaya here has a horrible taste. I´m loving your blog in English, why don´t you do the same with Trem Bom in Portuguese???

Valentina said...

Hi Clarice, how different do you find the blogs? I thought that I used the same approach but by the looks of it they are slightly different.Shame about the papaya. I think that you would love the final result.xx

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful combination!!

Ana said...

I love papayas too!! And just as you, I wish they were cheaper here in the US...
I have read about eating papayas with lime juice (I believe mexicans have it that way) but haven't tried yet... Maybe I will get curious enough to try it! hehe!
Ana

Anonymous said...

I love papaya! they are expensive here, though. Will have to try this recipe. ;-)

Paz

Fran said...

Just bought a beautiful papaya yesterday. Must try it this way. Thank you for the idea. Nice photo.

Anonymous said...

Hi

Great to see another food blog written by somebody living in Britain.

Beautiful photography btw

Valentina said...

Pamela, I was quite surprised at how well all the ingredients worked together.
Ana, I hope your curiosity tickles you well enough.
Paz, I know how you feel about the price.It saddens me.
Melissa, I am a bit late with my Farmer's market contribution.Must hurry.
FRan, hope you liked it.
Gastrochick, so we are neighbours.Nice to know.; o )