3o8 FRUIT RECIPES 



tree is more nearly that of a palm than anything else and 

 the leaves resemble those of both the castor bean a!nd fig, 

 being curiously cut, large and graceful. They have a 

 singular and valuable power in their action upon meat 

 fibre in which quality the rind of the papaw shares: When 

 the rind is rubbed over the toughest meat or the meat is 

 wrapped for a few hours in the leaves the offending tough- 

 ness entirely disappears. The fruit juice has remarkable 

 stomachic qualities and Joseph Jefferson was a noted ex- 

 ample of the claim that the tropical papaw is a cure for 

 dyspepsia. In form the fruit is rather a cross between the 

 banana and the muskmelon. It may be prepared for 

 cookery, like the coarser vegetables of northern climates, 

 before it quite reaches maturity; eaten uncooked, it must 

 be thoroughly ripened to be acceptable to the palate. 

 (This fruit is not in the least related to the Northern papaw.) 



"Prickly Pear" is rather an indefinite term as there are 

 over one hundred and fifty members of this, the Opuntia, 

 of the CactacecB. The yellow-fruited O. Ficus-Indica and 

 the O. tuna, which bears purple-red fruit, are perhaps best 

 known and are very commonly used for eating uncooked or 

 stewed with some other fruit, as lemon or pineapple, for 

 flavouring, or preserves. The fruit, though sub-acid, has 

 with many varieties not distinct enough a tone to render it 

 extremely popular though it is very refreshing and cooling 

 and the mucilaginous quality, which is not unpleasant, is 

 considered healing. The purple-fruited prickly pear is 

 often used for colouring in desserts and preserves. 



The Granadilla and "May- Pop" are members of the 

 Passifloracecs, edible fruits of the passion vine. The May- 

 pop, Passiflora incarnata, grows wild in the Southern States, 

 but it is little known that it makes a beautiful and delicate 

 jelly. It is a smaller edition of the Passiflora edulis and 

 the Passiflora quadrangularis, two varieties of granadilla, 



