Behold the pawpaw, the tropical 'alien banana' that grows right here in Canada

Pawpaw is a North American native fruit that tastes like banana, mango and pineapple with a custardy, almost caramel-like texture when ripe. Once abundant from Florida to southern Ontario and widely cultivated by Indigenous peoples such as the Haudenosaunee, pawpaws declined as forests were cleared for farmland but still grow wild and in small orchards across parts of southern Ontario, Quebec and B.C. The fruit’s commercial invisibility stems from a very short shelf life and extreme bruising sensitivity; it browns quickly after picking and cannot easily be shipped. Seeds and skin are toxic, so only the soft flesh is eaten. Chefs like Mohawk cook Tawnya Brant prize pawpaws for their concentrated tropical flavour, using them fresh or sparingly in dressings, sauces, coulis and desserts.

Growers recount steep learning curves to produce reliable crops: Thomas Mathias spent 11 years experimenting before his Niagara-region trees fruited, using raw horse and llama manure to attract blue-bottle flies that pollinate the flowers. Eleven trees on his farm yield roughly 250-300 pounds a year, sold at about $20 a pound, and rising consumer curiosity has sparked local festivals and farmer’s-market demand. Enthusiasts hope small-scale cultivation and word-of-mouth will revive backyard plantings and broader appreciation of this distinctive, short-season “alien banana.”