A Sketch in Cuisine - By Wendy Hose

Autumn is a second spring
When every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus

The Papino Story

Papaws are now in season and, after some research, I came across this interesting story. Papaws or papaya (carrica papaya) is a tropical fruit, indigenous to South America. It was ungainly in size and did not travel well during the long sea journeys to their destinations.
So, in 1919, the Hawaii Agricultural station developed a new ‘solo’ variety—a smaller fruit about 7 to 13 cm in diameter. It was called ‘solo’ because one man could eat a whole fruit by himself.

In South Africa, in the Letsitele valley nestling in the foothills of the Drakensburg mountain, Len Hobson, an enterprising descendant of the 1820 British Settlers, decided that the local papaw variety which he grew, could be improved. After more than 10 years of experimenting, he succeeded in a obtaining a vastly improved smaller fruit with the most delicious flavour. The Papino is low in calories, nutritious and an excellent source of vitamin C, riboflavin and calcium. They also do not discolour when cut.

The new papaw is registered at home and abroad under the trade name ‘Papino’ Hobson’s Choice. (see the book “Papino Papaws Please” Muller & Retief )
This beautifully shaped papaw is a delight for making the most eye-catching dishes and I have chosen two recipes for you to try.


Festive Fruit Cup

(4 servings)
2 ripe round-shaped Papinos
1 large orange, segmented
2-3 tinned peach halves (or fresh ones if possible)
15 green grapes
1 tablespoon French dressing
60 g cream cheese
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
Small sprigs of mint
4 glass fruit cups.

Cut the Papinos in half—straight across—and decorate the edges with a saw tooth movement. Mix the cut-up orange segments with pieces of peaches and quartered, pipped grapes. Toss the fruit in French dressing and spoon into the Papino halves. Mix the cream cheese with finely chopped walnuts and add a teaspoonful on top of each fruit cup. Decorate with half a black or green grape and a small sprig of mint and serve on a lettuce leaf or a small paper doily.

Chicken Salad Platter

(6 servings)
Lettuce
6 portions of cold cooked chicken
½ lemon or lime
1 Papino
1 green apple
2 young stalks of celery
½ green pepper
½ to 1 cup mayonnaise
2 to 3 tablespoons walnuts
Watercress and lemon or lime slices

Arrange lettuce leaves on an oval meat platter. Arrange the skinned chicken portions in the centre and sprinkle with a little lime or lemon juice. Cube the Papino and the green apple. Roughly chop the celery and green pepper as well as the walnuts. Mix the fruits, nuts and vegetables with mayonnaise to moisten the mixture thoroughly. Spoon the fruit and vegetable mixtures around the chicken. Garnish with watercress and thin lemon wedges. Sprinkle with a little paprika. This salad is a complete and tasty meal in itself. Although this is for 6 servings, it is easily adapted for more or less servings.

The following bread recipe makes a nice accompaniment for a luncheon instead of rolls:

Quick Sun-dried Tomato and Olive Loaf.

4 eggs
500 ml Self-raising flour
5 ml baking powder
5 ml salt
45 ml olive oil
30 ml tomato puree
A good grinding of black pepper
100 g black olives, rinsed and dried
125 ml fresh basil, chopped or
15 ml mixed dried herbs
8 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped.

Beat the eggs thoroughly. In a large bowl sift flour with baking powder and salt. Mix in the eggs to form a dough. Add the olive oil, tomato puree and pepper, stirring well to combine. Remove pips from the olives and chop flesh roughly. Dry olives before adding to the mixture, together with basil and sun-dried tomatoes. It may be necessary to add a few spoonfuls of water to produce a soft, but not runny, dough.Spoon into a greased, 23 cm x 13 cm loaf tin (first line the bottom with baking paper for ease of removing the loaf). Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.