Pawpaw Patch (1*), Children’s Play Party game- USA

1*. a First Generation dance. For more on 1stG dances, click https://folkdancefootnotes.org/dance/a-real-folk-dance-what-is-it/1st-generation-dances/

According to the article below, another name for pawpaw is “Hoosier banana”. (Hoosier being the nickname of a person from Indiana). When I was growing up in Indiana in the ’50’s, I heard the song “Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch”. I knew it was a “folk song”, though I didn’t know it was associated with a dance (or Play Party game, as they were known in pioneer times).

Pawpaw Patch – the Song

I had never eaten a pawpaw, as there were few native forests left in my industrial/farming region, and didn’t really know what a pawpaw was.

Where did the name Pawpaw come from?

According to botanist José Hormaza, the name comes from a fateful combination of the Taíno language with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto (who explored North America from 1539 to 1543). The name “Pawpaw” has its origins in the indigenous Taíno (a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean.) language, dating back thousands of years. (Their word for papaya fruit was papaina). :“Apparently, the name pawpaw was given to the tree by members of the de Soto expedition for its resemblance to the fruits of the tropical fruit papaya that they already knew, papaya being a Spanish word derived from the Taíno word papaina.” Later, Spanish colonists applied this word to another fruit they found hundreds of miles away in North America. Centuries of usage changed papainato pawpaw. Source:https://theplantnative.com/plant/pawpaw-tree/

What is a Pawpaw?

The American pawpaw is a fruit native to North America. It grows on the continent’s largest edible fruit tree and primarily found in the east, ranging from Florida to southern Canada. It is not as common or popular as it once was, though there is a growing interest in this often forgotten fruit. Pawpaw has a bright, tropical flavor that is enjoyed on its own. It’s a delicious addition to desserts as well as recipes that typically call for bananas.

Pawpaws were a staple in European settlers’ diets and famously eaten on the Lewis and Clark expedition. In the early 1900s, pawpaw was one of the most popular fall fruits around, but it fell out of favor and was largely forgotten sometime after that. The pawpaw has experienced a mild revival in recent years among researchers, food lovers, and plant breeders. There’s even the annual Pawpaw Festival in Albany, Ohio, each September.

On the outside, the pawpaw is green with darkish speckles. The soft flesh inside is either a creamy whitish-taupe or brighter yellow with large dark seeds speckled about. The fruit is often eaten raw or added to sweet foods. Pawpaw seeds and skin need to be removed and not eaten because they are toxic to people when chewed. The cultivated fruit remains scarce in markets and can be expensive in comparison to more common fruits.

Pawpaw also goes by the names false banana, pawpaw apple, custard banana, and Hoosier banana.

How to Use Pawpaw

The best thing to do if you happen upon ripe pawpaw is to eat it raw: Peel away the dull shell, discard the large brown seeds, and enjoy the custard-like flesh.

Pawpaw works well in desserts, too, especially puddings and ice cream. You can often use pawpaw to replace bananas. Try it in a smoothie, cream pie, or fruity bread. Craft brewers also use pawpaw to create unique fruit beers.

What Does It Taste Like?

The taste of pawpaw is often described as a cross between a banana, kiwi, and a mango. It’s a tropical fruit with a slightly bitter aftertaste but pleasant zing upon the first bite. The tangy flesh proves soft and pliable, easy to chew and slurp up right from the peel.

Pawpaw vs. Papaya

It’s easy to confuse pawpaw and papaya because the latter is sometimes also called pawpaw. The key difference is where the fruit is grown: pawpaw is a North American fruit while the papaya is from the tropical regions of Mexico and South America. The two are not botanically related. Pawpaw tends to be smaller than papaya and looks more like an oblong, greenish-brown mango. While both have a tropical flavor, pawpaw leans toward banana, and papaya is more similar to mango. Papaya seeds are edible; pawpaw seeds are not.

Source:https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-pawpaw-and-how-do-you-use-it-4774815

Pawpaw Patch – the Play Party Dance

Play Party is a distinctly American term for a type of folk dance that was popular in “pioneer times” – before 1850, especially in the South and Midwest. Pioneers were often Christians escaping established religions associated with ruling classes, and who believed dancing, especially as accompanied by fiddles (the “instrument of the devil”) led to sin. However, if it was labeled “playing” and was not accompanied by musical instruments, many frontier pastors allowed social gatherings of both sexes to mingle (if they accompanied themselves by nothing but their own singing.) Then a Play Party could be a get-together that included the entire family, though later it became associated with “games” for children only.