If you have a hankering for pawpaw – if you don’t, you’re in the majority who know little about the forgotten fruit – now is the time to head “way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.”

Pawpaws are the largest and most tropical fruit growing wild as a native tree in Pennsylvania. Each oblong fruit measures 3-5 inches long and weighs 6-12 ounces, with a light green skin with increasing black blemishes as it ripens.

The flesh of the ripe fruit, which is ripe for only a few days in mid- to late September and not palatable when it’s not ripe, has a unique flavor that’s described with comparisons to many other fruits and combinations of fruits but often note hints of banana, mango and pineapple.