January 12, 2024 • 29 mins
This tart, crunchy salad ingredient morphs into a soft, sweet (and slightly funky) dessert when it ripens. Anney and Lauren peel back the science and history of papaya.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hell Loo and welcome to Savor production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any reason an unlarn vocal bomb, and today we
have an episode for you about papaya.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, was there any reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Nope, not at all. I maybe it might have been
in our idea sheet. Maybe I was just recklessly googling fruit.
I don't know, never recklessly google fruit, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
There's one thing I've learned all this job.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Uh yeah, No, But I but I, but I love
a papaya. I think I prefer it unripe to ripe.
But but there is really something about like good, like
just like chilled papaya cubes with like a lot of
lime juice. Oh so nice, so refreshing.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Okay, I don't have a lot of experience with papaya,
to be honest. I had papaya juice a lot in Peru.
It was a smell that always threw me.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's a common that's a common vibe. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
It was never like I couldn't drink it or anything
like that, but it was just like didn't match quite
with the what I thought the taste would be. Yeah,
in a way that reminds me of a much Tamer Durian.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Absolutely, I think that that is very much a situation
with ripe papaya. It doesn't really happen with the unripe
kind and I but but I've definitely like people have
a strong enough association between papaya and that kind of
off smell that I've you know, like if I if
I order papaya salad green papaya salad, which I do
(01:45):
pretty much every time I can, people are like, oh,
I don't even want to try it because I don't
want to get my face anywhere near papaya.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
But the green, but the green stuff does not have
that smell, So you're y'all are safe if that was
a concern.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Few, I mean, I definitely eat it. I did think
that was just my first experience with something like that.
So this, Oh I almost message you about this, so
it wasn't another marigold situation. But okay, there seems to
be a lot of confusion between pop pause impapaia pa pa.
(02:23):
I determined, you know, laterally without asking you. But I
think this is what you meant. That's a separate episode,
that's a different fruit. Yeah, it's a some people put
it in the same kind of like story history line,
I'm not doing it.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, it's a different it's a different fruit.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So there you go. There, there you go, putting the
foot down. But a lot of people, well at least
a handful of people have suggested Papa's, so we will
do it. Oh it's on the list.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, totally, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You can see that episode we did on green papaya salad,
which yes, I have now had based heavily on your suggestions.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah. I also Oh yeah, isn't it? Oh man, so good?
Did you have like a like a like a good
spicy one like was it? Yeah, that's a crunch of
it and the tang spice.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I also get it every time I see it. Oh yeah, yes, yes,
But I guess that brings us to our question. Sure, papaya,
what is it? Well, papaya is a type of fruit
that's eaten both unripe when the flesh is green and
tart and crunchy, and uh ripe when it's kind of
(03:35):
blush orange and soft and very sweet and a little funky.
They can get big, like football sized, so in grocery
stores they're often sold haved or skinned and sliced like melons.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Both their smooth skin and small black seeds are technically edible,
but they're also both a little bitter and like tough.
So yeah. The fruit can be used unripe and bright
salads and savory stews like curries, or ripe by itself
as a snack or dessert, often with lime juice to
help mitigate that funky smell, or or raw and smoothies
or salads or cooked into baked goods or pastes or
(04:11):
candies or jams. More than any other fruit that I
know of, it's really two totally different things when it's
ripe versus unripe. It retains a few tropical floral tangy
flavors in both states, but like the texture and the smell,
right are so different. It's like if it's like if
(04:33):
celery turned into cantelope when it ripened. It's it's like
a it's like a squash that grows on trees. It's
like a choose your own adventure that definitely takes place
in the tropics and just leaves you feeling refreshed.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It that is true, it's kind of very like refreshing.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
It's very a lot of water involved, I guess, yeah, yeah,
very juicy when yeah, yeah, hmm, okay, but uh yeah so.
Botanical name Karica papaya, the papaya plant is a tropical
evergreen tree. It can grow up to about six twenty
feet tall that's around two to six meters, and has
these these broad, kind of palm like lobed leaves that
(05:16):
come straight off of its trunk, which is not woody,
prompting some botanists to call it a giant herb, very
large herb. Yeah, I know right, I love this. Each
leaf will like leave a scar on the stem when
it falls off. The new leaves sprout at the at
the top of the plant. It's sometimes planted. Is an ornamental.
It's real pretty, you know, like a really herby palm tree,
(05:37):
and it grows these these big, pretty kind of star
trumpet shaped yellow white flowers, which if pollinated, will grow
into large, oblong or roundish fruits with a smooth, thin
skin that's green when they're unripe and goes to yellow
to orange when they ripe. In the fruit inside is
green and like juicy crunchy when it's unripe, and then
(06:00):
goes pink to orange to reddish and very soft and
juicy when it's ripe, there's an oblong cavity down the
center of the fruit or I guess round, depending on
the shape of the fruit. But yeah, it contains many
small gray black seeds, each incased in a little kind
of juice sect. They are edible, but right sort of bitter,
and like I said, these fruit can get big, like
(06:22):
up to twenty pounds and eighteen inches long, that's about
nine kilos and thirty five centimeters long. Yeah. Ones that
you find in stores are more likely to be like
about a pound and around eight inches long. That's like
half a kilo and twenty centimeters but yeah, yeah, And
the fruit will continue ripening after harvest, and it does
(06:44):
so pretty rapidly, which means that it can be difficult
to transport because it has a pretty short shelf life
post harvest that they can like over ripen and bruise
pretty easily. That offensive scent in a ripe papaya is
due to a compound called papaian, which has been described
in the scientific literature as sweaty, slash rancid. Yeah. Yeah,
(07:10):
it's actually this enzyme that's that's widely used in the
food and beverage industry to tenderize meat. Remove allergens from water,
like clarify and stabilize beer, among lots of other uses
in other industries as well, including like biomedical applications. A
perhaps more pleasant scent molecule in papaya is a linna lul,
(07:32):
which is Yeah, it's pretty characteristic of papia. It has
a sort of floral, spicy scent to it. Yeah, so yeah, right.
Papaya is great raw. Try it with lots of fresh
lime juice, you know, put it in a fruit salad
or a smoothie or a salsa. I don't know. I'm
pretty sure that the lime juice thing works because lime
(07:54):
juice is acidic enough to inactivate papian and when you
inactivate a protein or an enzyme, you kind of unravel it,
and I'm assuming that that does something to change the scent.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
I couldn't really find an answer, but that's what I'm guessing. Unripe,
it's used more.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Like a vegetable.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It's a little bit tough, but can be cut into
skinny slices and pounded tender for use in salads or
cooked into curries. I have never had cooked green papaya,
and now I really want to try that because that
sounds like an excellent addition to a curry.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It does, it does. Oh, the list goes on, it
grows longer.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Still too much to heat.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Too much? What about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
In general, papaya contains a good punch of fiber and
lots of micro nutrients. Ride papaya can have a bunch
of sugar, but it also has developed even more micronutrients.
So yeah, you know, I don't know. In general, it'll
help fill you up, but to keep you going, pair
it with a fat and a protein which is tasty.
They do contain enzymes that can set off a latex allergy,
(09:10):
so if that's you, be aware, be safe. Yeah. Also,
as I kind of touched on above, a papion is
being investigated for all of these potential medical properties, including
like helping with various forms of inflammation, which could potentially
touch everything from like skincare and wound healing to heart disease.
(09:36):
But those are with like extracts with medically monitored applications.
You know, saber motto bodies are complicated. More research is
necessary before eating a medicinal amount of anything. Check with
the doctor. And that's not us.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It is not is that the first savor motto of
twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Four, It might in fact be I don't remember last week,
so it's hard for me to say.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I think it is cool. I'll go out a limbs.
Then who's gonna.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Prove It's not like we have a record of these things.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
No, No, Well, speaking of records, we have a couple
numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
We do. Papayas can contain between one hundred and four
hundred flavor compounds, though only about twenty five of those
occur and amounts detectable to the human palate. The rest
are just kind of hanging out in there. Yeah. As
of twenty twenty, India was producing the most papayas, about
(10:40):
fourteen million metric tons per year, which was around forty
three percent of the world's crop. However, Mexico, which is
only the fifth largest grower, was exporting the most, some
forty seven percent of its crop, most of which goes
to the United States. The US is the largest importer
of in the world, and Brazil is the main supplier
(11:03):
to Europe.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yes, and I again, always I would love to hear
from listeners because I, as I said, don't have a
lot of experience with papaya, And when I read the
US is the largest importer, it was kind of like, huh,
I wonder what that's going into.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, right, Like like my main experience with it
is either in these salads, in pounded salads, or in
or just like buying a tub of it cubed from
from a grocery store with a bunch of lime wedges
in the package already, and like taking it on a
picnic and having a really nice time.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That does sound like a nice time, It's very nice. Wow.
Let us know, listeners, But we do have some history
for you.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Oh we do, and we're going to get into that
as soon as we get back from a quick break
for a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank
you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yes. So, historians believe that papaya originated in Central America
and Mexico, where they were first domesticated, though as of recently,
archaeological evidence was pretty much non existent and or not definitive.
And I read a whole paper about why that is,
and it was interesting, okay, but the ultimate answer is
(12:27):
they don't have the evidence.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Was it like one of those like the fruit doesn't
really preserve well or it.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Was that, and I think there was something to do
with specifically how it decays. You can't differentiate it between.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Other things that are similar. I see, Oh that's fun. Okay, yeah,
it was fun.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So if you want to, if you're a nerd like
us and you want to learn more about it, it exists.
But I basically was like, sometimes you've got to pull back,
and yeah, ultimately the evidence they don't have it quite yet.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I did two pulling backs in my research for this one.
So yes, I know the feeling. Yes, very well.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Believe it or not. Listeners, you try to cultivate a
whole experience. Here could be listening to like our hour
long episodes. You might not think so, but believe us.
And it can't be tricky with one like this because honestly,
there wasn't too much about it. But okay, it does
have a long history of being used in a variety
(13:27):
of culinary preparations and medicinally. It also has a long
history of being used to make wine or other alcoholic beveragions.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, totally, I think I forgot. Yeah, I forgot to
put a note in about that above.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
But yes, yes, the maya are believed to be one
of the first cultures to cultivate and trade papaya, and
some sources suggest that papaya and enzyme in papaya was
used by Meso American peoples to tenderize meats as well.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah yeah, probably is like a juice kind of situation. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yes. After encountering the papaya during the fifteen hundreds, the
Spanish and Portuguese introduced the papaya to their colonies, and
records indicate that it was present in the Dominican Republic
and Panama during this time, and that the Spanish brought
the seeds to the Philippines and the fifteen hundreds. The
papaya was being cultivated in India by at least the
(14:20):
early sixteen hundreds. As it spread, it took really well
in tropical areas, and cultures cultivating them in those areas
found ways to incorporate them into local dishes and taste
in green Papaya salad is a very good example of that. Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Meanwhile, papayan was named in eighteen seventy nine by researchers
who partially purified it out of papaya sap so not
the actual fruit, but the kind of like late texi
sap in the skin. It was isolated in the nineteen
sixties and has become one of the most industrially used
plant compounds in the world. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Well, a variety of papaya called the Solo was introduced
to Hawaii in nineteen ten, and it was a very
big commercial success. But that success took a hit due
to the papaya ringspot virus that got going in that
area in the nineteen fifties. Attempts were made to combat it,
including relocating where the papaya was grown, but by nineteen
(15:23):
ninety seven, the Hawaiian papaya industry was all but extinct.
Farms were going out of business and the crop yield
had dropped by forty percent. At the time, the US
government had just wrapped up a regulatory review on a
genetically engineered variety of papaya called the sun Up that
was resistant to the ring spot virus. They gave their
(15:44):
permission to two hundred farmers to plant this variety. A
year later, it was commercialized and the Hawaiian papaya industry
bounced back.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, it's a really amazing success story. The sun Up
had been in development since nineteen seventy eight, when the
Hawaiian plant virologist who was working at Cornell at the time,
like went home for a visit and realized that this
was an issue and kind of really devoted himself to it.
Over the next decade, they figured out how to take
proteins from the ringspot virus's coat, like the coat of
(16:17):
the protein or the coat of the virus, and add
them to the DNA of this variety of papaya called
the Sunset that was having this problem with the virus,
and they thus created the virus resistant sun up so
cute love it. They then crossed it with this high
yielding variety called the Rainbow and wound up with a
(16:37):
high yield virus resistant plant. Like it doesn't require herbicides.
It's been found safe to grow and consume. There's a
little bit there's still or there has been and still
is where we are still kind of working through reticence
to genetically modified plants because people get freaked out because
it's genetic modification. They're like, is is it safe? The
(17:00):
answer is in this case yes, So you know, hopefully,
hopefully this can be a solution to many other ringspot
virus problems around the world.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Yes, yes, And this was also I feel like in
a lot of these episodes, we've run across people who
are very passionate about certain varieties. Oh yeah, so another
rabbit hole of your if you're if you're looking for one,
buy a varieties?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yes, Oh my goodness, yeah yep.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
In nineteen ninety three, Singapore issued special edition stamps featuring
the Papaya Oh should I love? And then this okay,
very briefly, because it kept popping up and I had
totally forgotten about this whole thing, and I've actually been
to this place. Okay, okay, let me step back. I'm
(17:52):
going to keep you in suspense, all right. In nineteen
twenty three, a Greek immigrant started work at ap and
eventually he bought it, and, after a trip to some
tropical locations in nineteen thirty two, renamed it Hawaiian Tropical Drinks,
though most of us know it now as papay A King,
(18:13):
Allegedly New York's first juice bar, it's got a very
iconic sign. Over the years, a couple more opened, and
by nineteen thirty nine hot dogs were added to the menu,
and this hot dog went on to become a bit
of a New York icon. It was often enjoyed with
papaya juse yes, and this classic sign above it reads
(18:35):
Papaya and all capital like neon letters. It's very eye catching.
That's about the original location, and it went up in
nineteen the nineteen fifties. Legend has it though, that it
wasn't until after some inspiration from Babe Ruth that the
name Papaya King came into use. I couldn't like prove
that story at all, so grain of salt, okay, all right,
(18:57):
and I'm going to super condense this. But basically, after
the success of Hawaiian tropical drinks Papaya King and in
the way of New York restaurants, numerous competitors started popping
up and selling hot dogs and tropical drinks, many of
them with papaya in their restaurant name.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Ah Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Here is a list from Eater Yes Papaia Heaven, Papaya Paradise,
Papaya Place, Papaya Circle, Papaya World, Frank's Papaya, Papaya Check,
and Original Papaya. Oh.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Original Papaya is All.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
We laughed so hard that it is such a New
York City restaurant thing. I love that, oh, because it
definitely was not the original Papaya anyway. Many of them
did end up closing, except for Gray's Papaya, and the
story goes that in the early seventies, Papya King was
looking at franchising and the owner of one of the
non company stores closed. The store reopened it as Gray's Papaya,
(19:59):
and they have the rivals ever since. Well, Papaia King
definitely has its fans, It definitely has a lot of
people who know about it. Julia Child once called Papiya
King the best hot dog in New York.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
In New York, Okay, okay, it.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Does sound good. I almost include the whole description, but
you can look it up. And here's your Seinfeld quote
of the episode. I don't want a movie hot dog.
I want a Papaia King hot dog. And then Kramer
runs out of the theater. I don't think I knew
what it was when I saw the episode, but now
I know, Now I know. But yes, that was just
(20:40):
I totally it unlocked a part of my brain, my memories.
I'd forgotten i'd been there, I'd forgotten about that whole thing.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, I have not experienced a Papia King. I feel
like I'm missing out you are.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I'm sure a lot of listeners are gonna write in
opinions about that. I remember it being good.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
No, if you have strong I mean, we always want
to hear strong opinions, no matter what they're about, but
especially if you have a Gray's Papaya versus Papiya King opinion. Yes,
I want to I want to hear that. I don't
want to hear your order. Yes, I need to know. Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And does the papaya juice is that still? Does it
come at the Gray Papia place? Does it still available
at Paya King? We savor a Neyed's answers, and only
you can help. Yeah, we can't look this up. I'm
looking at it right now. Oh sorry, Oh my god,
Like we can't. We can't look this up.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
No, they do offer fresh juices, but I don't think
papaya is one of them.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Well that's not looking good. Just let us know.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Confusion, Yeah, all right, let us know.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
And again, like I said, this is one of those
unfortunate instances where I can find too much. So if
you have any experiences dishes, recipes, please write in lore.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah papaya or yah? Yeah? Sure right, because you know
other than me going on at length about science that
I don't really understand about this extract papayan, or about
like the gold dust particles that they used to shoot
the virus pieces into the DNA.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Of the papaya.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I mean, yeah, I was like, wow, I don't understand
that sentence at all, but that sounds really, really rad.
I think that is what we have to say about
the papaya for now.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
It is indeed. Ah, but we do have some listener
mail for you.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Oh we do, and we're going to get into that
as soon as we get back from one more quick
break for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
They we're back, Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listeners. Yes, I'm very cold, listeners, Laurenc,
it looks like I'm dressed for the snow. Nice. So
papaia in a tropical climate sounds very love Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Yeah, Annie's outfit looks like what they should have been
wearing in Game of Thrones when they were running around
above the north of the walls.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So yeah, yes, yes, if you want a side podcast
on Lauren critiques about lack of hat wear in Game
of Stones, I think we could make it happen.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I think we could yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
During cold times when it should have been worn right.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yes, I mean, I know John Snow's hair is pretty,
but come on, man, he's gonna get hypothermia.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
They're fine looking hats. You know, you can accentuate all
kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
It doesn't have right hoods are great, you know, man,
it doesn't have to be those goofy fray hats. Come
on anyway, Look, I can't wait to just pitch some
titles for that show for you.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Christine wrote, it's Boxing Day in Australia and friends, I
have spotted hot cross buns in the wild. No news
on weird varieties like cheese and halapinio, but I will
keep you posted, so yes. In the previous year, Christine
wrote in that this was a thing that happened around
(24:42):
Boxing Day in Australia and was sending in these flavors
and it was just sort of not what I'm used
to or when I'm used to hot cross bunds appearing.
But yes, also not what I'm used to flavor.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Was yeah, yeah, right right, I'm used to write ea, yes,
and they're pretty much only the sweet variety here with
icing and like currents or raisins in them.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yes, yeah, So thank you for answering the column this Christine,
because we did ask for a fallow up and hopefully
get another one. We'll learn more about these.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Hot yeah buns in the Yeah, I'm not not about
a cheese or jalapeno hot cross bum. Well you would
be with, but that not specifically. Sure, that's large, that's
ichonny a little bit. It'll it'll be for yeah, it'll
work out okay anyway, Oh goodness uh uh. Eric wrote
(25:41):
the Saracha revisit with an update. Nice revisit, but obviously
some not so nice updates. I've recently moved over to
the leecome Key brand as it's a little easier to
find recently. Also, in doing a blind taste test, I
really couldn't taste any super noticeable difference. Always nice when
you do a classic and can provide new stuff. Rose
water is something I had not thought of in a while.
(26:01):
Seems like it was popular and showing up in a
lot of stuff around ten or fifteen years ago and
now has faded into the background. Probably still used, just
not mentioned as much. There used to be an Indian
restaurant that had this amazing mango lassie that had rosewater
in it. The listener mail about the eating schedule in
one part of Finland was interesting. Enjoy hearing about things
like that. Lauren also gave us some advice later that
(26:23):
we need to keep snacks available around her to keep
our eyeballs. It did give me a thought it could
be a multi part episode Breakfasts around the world. I
find the variety of things interesting. I hope to travel
to Japan at some point and really want to do
the breakfast they have. I've done a full English in London,
had some simple light meals in Switzerland and Italy when younger.
Everything was wonderful. This great world of food and the
(26:45):
variety of things out there is just amazing. I just
think that the joy of not only experiencing different types
of food, but sharing food and stories of people over
food is something that we need to share more. Yes,
oh yes, yes, oh we're here are Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
I do think breakfast would that would be a great
mini series because breakfast can vary wildly.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Oh yeah, and just fascinating and it's so much I mean,
it seems like a really nostalgic meal for a lot
of people and something that you do kind of stick
with tradition about more so than meals.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Yeah, and I it's hard to like make a I
don't know generalization about it, because I was going to say,
I feel like breakfast varies the most of any of
the other meals I've experienced in other countries. It could
be that I'm just more used to having like bigger,
more varied meals at like something like lunch and dinner.
But I feel like a lot of countries I've been
(27:49):
and the breakfast is something so completely different than what
I would put in the category of breakfast food. Yeah, totally,
so I would. I think that's a great idea. Yeah, yes, yes,
mangolossy with rosewater sounds amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I love oh yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yes, and I do love how many recommendations we've heard
about siracha alternatives or like other things we can try,
because I I love hotsa, you know, I love patsau
So mm hmm any and all recommendation I am very
happy to get mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Some thanks always, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yes, and thanks to both of these listeners for writing in.
If you would like to write to us, you can.
Our email is Hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
We're also on social media You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For more
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Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and
Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we hope
that lots more good things are coming your way.
Hell Loo and welcome to Savor production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any reason an unlarn vocal bomb, and today we
have an episode for you about papaya.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, was there any reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Nope, not at all. I maybe it might have been
in our idea sheet. Maybe I was just recklessly googling fruit.
I don't know, never recklessly google fruit, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
There's one thing I've learned all this job.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Uh yeah, No, But I but I, but I love
a papaya. I think I prefer it unripe to ripe.
But but there is really something about like good, like
just like chilled papaya cubes with like a lot of
lime juice. Oh so nice, so refreshing.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Okay, I don't have a lot of experience with papaya,
to be honest. I had papaya juice a lot in Peru.
It was a smell that always threw me.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's a common that's a common vibe. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
It was never like I couldn't drink it or anything
like that, but it was just like didn't match quite
with the what I thought the taste would be. Yeah,
in a way that reminds me of a much Tamer Durian.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Absolutely, I think that that is very much a situation
with ripe papaya. It doesn't really happen with the unripe
kind and I but but I've definitely like people have
a strong enough association between papaya and that kind of
off smell that I've you know, like if I if
I order papaya salad green papaya salad, which I do
(01:45):
pretty much every time I can, people are like, oh,
I don't even want to try it because I don't
want to get my face anywhere near papaya.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
But the green, but the green stuff does not have
that smell, So you're y'all are safe if that was
a concern.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Few, I mean, I definitely eat it. I did think
that was just my first experience with something like that.
So this, Oh I almost message you about this, so
it wasn't another marigold situation. But okay, there seems to
be a lot of confusion between pop pause impapaia pa pa.
(02:23):
I determined, you know, laterally without asking you. But I
think this is what you meant. That's a separate episode,
that's a different fruit. Yeah, it's a some people put
it in the same kind of like story history line,
I'm not doing it.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, it's a different it's a different fruit.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So there you go. There, there you go, putting the
foot down. But a lot of people, well at least
a handful of people have suggested Papa's, so we will
do it. Oh it's on the list.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, totally, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You can see that episode we did on green papaya salad,
which yes, I have now had based heavily on your suggestions.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah. I also Oh yeah, isn't it? Oh man, so good?
Did you have like a like a like a good
spicy one like was it? Yeah, that's a crunch of
it and the tang spice.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I also get it every time I see it. Oh yeah, yes, yes,
But I guess that brings us to our question. Sure, papaya,
what is it? Well, papaya is a type of fruit
that's eaten both unripe when the flesh is green and
tart and crunchy, and uh ripe when it's kind of
(03:35):
blush orange and soft and very sweet and a little funky.
They can get big, like football sized, so in grocery
stores they're often sold haved or skinned and sliced like melons.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Both their smooth skin and small black seeds are technically edible,
but they're also both a little bitter and like tough.
So yeah. The fruit can be used unripe and bright
salads and savory stews like curries, or ripe by itself
as a snack or dessert, often with lime juice to
help mitigate that funky smell, or or raw and smoothies
or salads or cooked into baked goods or pastes or
(04:11):
candies or jams. More than any other fruit that I
know of, it's really two totally different things when it's
ripe versus unripe. It retains a few tropical floral tangy
flavors in both states, but like the texture and the smell,
right are so different. It's like if it's like if
(04:33):
celery turned into cantelope when it ripened. It's it's like
a it's like a squash that grows on trees. It's
like a choose your own adventure that definitely takes place
in the tropics and just leaves you feeling refreshed.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It that is true, it's kind of very like refreshing.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
It's very a lot of water involved, I guess, yeah, yeah,
very juicy when yeah, yeah, hmm, okay, but uh yeah so.
Botanical name Karica papaya, the papaya plant is a tropical
evergreen tree. It can grow up to about six twenty
feet tall that's around two to six meters, and has
these these broad, kind of palm like lobed leaves that
(05:16):
come straight off of its trunk, which is not woody,
prompting some botanists to call it a giant herb, very
large herb. Yeah, I know right, I love this. Each
leaf will like leave a scar on the stem when
it falls off. The new leaves sprout at the at
the top of the plant. It's sometimes planted. Is an ornamental.
It's real pretty, you know, like a really herby palm tree,
(05:37):
and it grows these these big, pretty kind of star
trumpet shaped yellow white flowers, which if pollinated, will grow
into large, oblong or roundish fruits with a smooth, thin
skin that's green when they're unripe and goes to yellow
to orange when they ripe. In the fruit inside is
green and like juicy crunchy when it's unripe, and then
(06:00):
goes pink to orange to reddish and very soft and
juicy when it's ripe, there's an oblong cavity down the
center of the fruit or I guess round, depending on
the shape of the fruit. But yeah, it contains many
small gray black seeds, each incased in a little kind
of juice sect. They are edible, but right sort of bitter,
and like I said, these fruit can get big, like
(06:22):
up to twenty pounds and eighteen inches long, that's about
nine kilos and thirty five centimeters long. Yeah. Ones that
you find in stores are more likely to be like
about a pound and around eight inches long. That's like
half a kilo and twenty centimeters but yeah, yeah, And
the fruit will continue ripening after harvest, and it does
(06:44):
so pretty rapidly, which means that it can be difficult
to transport because it has a pretty short shelf life
post harvest that they can like over ripen and bruise
pretty easily. That offensive scent in a ripe papaya is
due to a compound called papaian, which has been described
in the scientific literature as sweaty, slash rancid. Yeah. Yeah,
(07:10):
it's actually this enzyme that's that's widely used in the
food and beverage industry to tenderize meat. Remove allergens from water,
like clarify and stabilize beer, among lots of other uses
in other industries as well, including like biomedical applications. A
perhaps more pleasant scent molecule in papaya is a linna lul,
(07:32):
which is Yeah, it's pretty characteristic of papia. It has
a sort of floral, spicy scent to it. Yeah, so yeah, right.
Papaya is great raw. Try it with lots of fresh
lime juice, you know, put it in a fruit salad
or a smoothie or a salsa. I don't know. I'm
pretty sure that the lime juice thing works because lime
(07:54):
juice is acidic enough to inactivate papian and when you
inactivate a protein or an enzyme, you kind of unravel it,
and I'm assuming that that does something to change the scent.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
I couldn't really find an answer, but that's what I'm guessing. Unripe,
it's used more.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Like a vegetable.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It's a little bit tough, but can be cut into
skinny slices and pounded tender for use in salads or
cooked into curries. I have never had cooked green papaya,
and now I really want to try that because that
sounds like an excellent addition to a curry.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
It does, it does. Oh, the list goes on, it
grows longer.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Still too much to heat.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Too much? What about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
In general, papaya contains a good punch of fiber and
lots of micro nutrients. Ride papaya can have a bunch
of sugar, but it also has developed even more micronutrients.
So yeah, you know, I don't know. In general, it'll
help fill you up, but to keep you going, pair
it with a fat and a protein which is tasty.
They do contain enzymes that can set off a latex allergy,
(09:10):
so if that's you, be aware, be safe. Yeah. Also,
as I kind of touched on above, a papion is
being investigated for all of these potential medical properties, including
like helping with various forms of inflammation, which could potentially
touch everything from like skincare and wound healing to heart disease.
(09:36):
But those are with like extracts with medically monitored applications.
You know, saber motto bodies are complicated. More research is
necessary before eating a medicinal amount of anything. Check with
the doctor. And that's not us.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It is not is that the first savor motto of
twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Four, It might in fact be I don't remember last week,
so it's hard for me to say.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I think it is cool. I'll go out a limbs.
Then who's gonna.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Prove It's not like we have a record of these things.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
No, No, Well, speaking of records, we have a couple
numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
We do. Papayas can contain between one hundred and four
hundred flavor compounds, though only about twenty five of those
occur and amounts detectable to the human palate. The rest
are just kind of hanging out in there. Yeah. As
of twenty twenty, India was producing the most papayas, about
(10:40):
fourteen million metric tons per year, which was around forty
three percent of the world's crop. However, Mexico, which is
only the fifth largest grower, was exporting the most, some
forty seven percent of its crop, most of which goes
to the United States. The US is the largest importer
of in the world, and Brazil is the main supplier
(11:03):
to Europe.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yes, and I again, always I would love to hear
from listeners because I, as I said, don't have a
lot of experience with papaya, And when I read the
US is the largest importer, it was kind of like, huh,
I wonder what that's going into.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, right, Like like my main experience with it
is either in these salads, in pounded salads, or in
or just like buying a tub of it cubed from
from a grocery store with a bunch of lime wedges
in the package already, and like taking it on a
picnic and having a really nice time.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That does sound like a nice time, It's very nice. Wow.
Let us know, listeners, But we do have some history
for you.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Oh we do, and we're going to get into that
as soon as we get back from a quick break
for a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank
you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yes. So, historians believe that papaya originated in Central America
and Mexico, where they were first domesticated, though as of recently,
archaeological evidence was pretty much non existent and or not definitive.
And I read a whole paper about why that is,
and it was interesting, okay, but the ultimate answer is
(12:27):
they don't have the evidence.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Was it like one of those like the fruit doesn't
really preserve well or it.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Was that, and I think there was something to do
with specifically how it decays. You can't differentiate it between.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Other things that are similar. I see, Oh that's fun. Okay, yeah,
it was fun.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So if you want to, if you're a nerd like
us and you want to learn more about it, it exists.
But I basically was like, sometimes you've got to pull back,
and yeah, ultimately the evidence they don't have it quite yet.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I did two pulling backs in my research for this one.
So yes, I know the feeling. Yes, very well.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Believe it or not. Listeners, you try to cultivate a
whole experience. Here could be listening to like our hour
long episodes. You might not think so, but believe us.
And it can't be tricky with one like this because honestly,
there wasn't too much about it. But okay, it does
have a long history of being used in a variety
(13:27):
of culinary preparations and medicinally. It also has a long
history of being used to make wine or other alcoholic beveragions.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, totally, I think I forgot. Yeah, I forgot to
put a note in about that above.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
But yes, yes, the maya are believed to be one
of the first cultures to cultivate and trade papaya, and
some sources suggest that papaya and enzyme in papaya was
used by Meso American peoples to tenderize meats as well.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah yeah, probably is like a juice kind of situation. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yes. After encountering the papaya during the fifteen hundreds, the
Spanish and Portuguese introduced the papaya to their colonies, and
records indicate that it was present in the Dominican Republic
and Panama during this time, and that the Spanish brought
the seeds to the Philippines and the fifteen hundreds. The
papaya was being cultivated in India by at least the
(14:20):
early sixteen hundreds. As it spread, it took really well
in tropical areas, and cultures cultivating them in those areas
found ways to incorporate them into local dishes and taste
in green Papaya salad is a very good example of that. Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Meanwhile, papayan was named in eighteen seventy nine by researchers
who partially purified it out of papaya sap so not
the actual fruit, but the kind of like late texi
sap in the skin. It was isolated in the nineteen
sixties and has become one of the most industrially used
plant compounds in the world. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Well, a variety of papaya called the Solo was introduced
to Hawaii in nineteen ten, and it was a very
big commercial success. But that success took a hit due
to the papaya ringspot virus that got going in that
area in the nineteen fifties. Attempts were made to combat it,
including relocating where the papaya was grown, but by nineteen
(15:23):
ninety seven, the Hawaiian papaya industry was all but extinct.
Farms were going out of business and the crop yield
had dropped by forty percent. At the time, the US
government had just wrapped up a regulatory review on a
genetically engineered variety of papaya called the sun Up that
was resistant to the ring spot virus. They gave their
(15:44):
permission to two hundred farmers to plant this variety. A
year later, it was commercialized and the Hawaiian papaya industry
bounced back.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, it's a really amazing success story. The sun Up
had been in development since nineteen seventy eight, when the
Hawaiian plant virologist who was working at Cornell at the time,
like went home for a visit and realized that this
was an issue and kind of really devoted himself to it.
Over the next decade, they figured out how to take
proteins from the ringspot virus's coat, like the coat of
(16:17):
the protein or the coat of the virus, and add
them to the DNA of this variety of papaya called
the Sunset that was having this problem with the virus,
and they thus created the virus resistant sun up so
cute love it. They then crossed it with this high
yielding variety called the Rainbow and wound up with a
(16:37):
high yield virus resistant plant. Like it doesn't require herbicides.
It's been found safe to grow and consume. There's a
little bit there's still or there has been and still
is where we are still kind of working through reticence
to genetically modified plants because people get freaked out because
it's genetic modification. They're like, is is it safe? The
(17:00):
answer is in this case yes, So you know, hopefully,
hopefully this can be a solution to many other ringspot
virus problems around the world.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Yes, yes, And this was also I feel like in
a lot of these episodes, we've run across people who
are very passionate about certain varieties. Oh yeah, so another
rabbit hole of your if you're if you're looking for one,
buy a varieties?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yes, Oh my goodness, yeah yep.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
In nineteen ninety three, Singapore issued special edition stamps featuring
the Papaya Oh should I love? And then this okay,
very briefly, because it kept popping up and I had
totally forgotten about this whole thing, and I've actually been
to this place. Okay, okay, let me step back. I'm
(17:52):
going to keep you in suspense, all right. In nineteen
twenty three, a Greek immigrant started work at ap and
eventually he bought it, and, after a trip to some
tropical locations in nineteen thirty two, renamed it Hawaiian Tropical Drinks,
though most of us know it now as papay A King,
(18:13):
Allegedly New York's first juice bar, it's got a very
iconic sign. Over the years, a couple more opened, and
by nineteen thirty nine hot dogs were added to the menu,
and this hot dog went on to become a bit
of a New York icon. It was often enjoyed with
papaya juse yes, and this classic sign above it reads
(18:35):
Papaya and all capital like neon letters. It's very eye catching.
That's about the original location, and it went up in
nineteen the nineteen fifties. Legend has it though, that it
wasn't until after some inspiration from Babe Ruth that the
name Papaya King came into use. I couldn't like prove
that story at all, so grain of salt, okay, all right,
(18:57):
and I'm going to super condense this. But basically, after
the success of Hawaiian tropical drinks Papaya King and in
the way of New York restaurants, numerous competitors started popping
up and selling hot dogs and tropical drinks, many of
them with papaya in their restaurant name.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Ah Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Here is a list from Eater Yes Papaia Heaven, Papaya Paradise,
Papaya Place, Papaya Circle, Papaya World, Frank's Papaya, Papaya Check,
and Original Papaya. Oh.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Original Papaya is All.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
We laughed so hard that it is such a New
York City restaurant thing. I love that, oh, because it
definitely was not the original Papaya anyway. Many of them
did end up closing, except for Gray's Papaya, and the
story goes that in the early seventies, Papya King was
looking at franchising and the owner of one of the
non company stores closed. The store reopened it as Gray's Papaya,
(19:59):
and they have the rivals ever since. Well, Papaia King
definitely has its fans, It definitely has a lot of
people who know about it. Julia Child once called Papiya
King the best hot dog in New York.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
In New York, Okay, okay, it.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Does sound good. I almost include the whole description, but
you can look it up. And here's your Seinfeld quote
of the episode. I don't want a movie hot dog.
I want a Papaia King hot dog. And then Kramer
runs out of the theater. I don't think I knew
what it was when I saw the episode, but now
I know, Now I know. But yes, that was just
(20:40):
I totally it unlocked a part of my brain, my memories.
I'd forgotten i'd been there, I'd forgotten about that whole thing.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, I have not experienced a Papia King. I feel
like I'm missing out you are.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I'm sure a lot of listeners are gonna write in
opinions about that. I remember it being good.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
No, if you have strong I mean, we always want
to hear strong opinions, no matter what they're about, but
especially if you have a Gray's Papaya versus Papiya King opinion. Yes,
I want to I want to hear that. I don't
want to hear your order. Yes, I need to know. Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And does the papaya juice is that still? Does it
come at the Gray Papia place? Does it still available
at Paya King? We savor a Neyed's answers, and only
you can help. Yeah, we can't look this up. I'm
looking at it right now. Oh sorry, Oh my god,
Like we can't. We can't look this up.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
No, they do offer fresh juices, but I don't think
papaya is one of them.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Well that's not looking good. Just let us know.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Confusion, Yeah, all right, let us know.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
And again, like I said, this is one of those
unfortunate instances where I can find too much. So if
you have any experiences dishes, recipes, please write in lore.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah papaya or yah? Yeah? Sure right, because you know
other than me going on at length about science that
I don't really understand about this extract papayan, or about
like the gold dust particles that they used to shoot
the virus pieces into the DNA.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Of the papaya.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I mean, yeah, I was like, wow, I don't understand
that sentence at all, but that sounds really, really rad.
I think that is what we have to say about
the papaya for now.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
It is indeed. Ah, but we do have some listener
mail for you.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Oh we do, and we're going to get into that
as soon as we get back from one more quick
break for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
They we're back, Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listeners. Yes, I'm very cold, listeners, Laurenc,
it looks like I'm dressed for the snow. Nice. So
papaia in a tropical climate sounds very love Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Yeah, Annie's outfit looks like what they should have been
wearing in Game of Thrones when they were running around
above the north of the walls.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So yeah, yes, yes, if you want a side podcast
on Lauren critiques about lack of hat wear in Game
of Stones, I think we could make it happen.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I think we could yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
During cold times when it should have been worn right.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yes, I mean, I know John Snow's hair is pretty,
but come on, man, he's gonna get hypothermia.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
They're fine looking hats. You know, you can accentuate all
kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
It doesn't have right hoods are great, you know, man,
it doesn't have to be those goofy fray hats. Come
on anyway, Look, I can't wait to just pitch some
titles for that show for you.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Christine wrote, it's Boxing Day in Australia and friends, I
have spotted hot cross buns in the wild. No news
on weird varieties like cheese and halapinio, but I will
keep you posted, so yes. In the previous year, Christine
wrote in that this was a thing that happened around
(24:42):
Boxing Day in Australia and was sending in these flavors
and it was just sort of not what I'm used
to or when I'm used to hot cross bunds appearing.
But yes, also not what I'm used to flavor.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Was yeah, yeah, right right, I'm used to write ea, yes,
and they're pretty much only the sweet variety here with
icing and like currents or raisins in them.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yes, yeah, So thank you for answering the column this Christine,
because we did ask for a fallow up and hopefully
get another one. We'll learn more about these.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Hot yeah buns in the Yeah, I'm not not about
a cheese or jalapeno hot cross bum. Well you would
be with, but that not specifically. Sure, that's large, that's
ichonny a little bit. It'll it'll be for yeah, it'll
work out okay anyway, Oh goodness uh uh. Eric wrote
(25:41):
the Saracha revisit with an update. Nice revisit, but obviously
some not so nice updates. I've recently moved over to
the leecome Key brand as it's a little easier to
find recently. Also, in doing a blind taste test, I
really couldn't taste any super noticeable difference. Always nice when
you do a classic and can provide new stuff. Rose
water is something I had not thought of in a while.
(26:01):
Seems like it was popular and showing up in a
lot of stuff around ten or fifteen years ago and
now has faded into the background. Probably still used, just
not mentioned as much. There used to be an Indian
restaurant that had this amazing mango lassie that had rosewater
in it. The listener mail about the eating schedule in
one part of Finland was interesting. Enjoy hearing about things
like that. Lauren also gave us some advice later that
(26:23):
we need to keep snacks available around her to keep
our eyeballs. It did give me a thought it could
be a multi part episode Breakfasts around the world. I
find the variety of things interesting. I hope to travel
to Japan at some point and really want to do
the breakfast they have. I've done a full English in London,
had some simple light meals in Switzerland and Italy when younger.
Everything was wonderful. This great world of food and the
(26:45):
variety of things out there is just amazing. I just
think that the joy of not only experiencing different types
of food, but sharing food and stories of people over
food is something that we need to share more. Yes,
oh yes, yes, oh we're here are Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
I do think breakfast would that would be a great
mini series because breakfast can vary wildly.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Oh yeah, and just fascinating and it's so much I mean,
it seems like a really nostalgic meal for a lot
of people and something that you do kind of stick
with tradition about more so than meals.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Yeah, and I it's hard to like make a I
don't know generalization about it, because I was going to say,
I feel like breakfast varies the most of any of
the other meals I've experienced in other countries. It could
be that I'm just more used to having like bigger,
more varied meals at like something like lunch and dinner.
But I feel like a lot of countries I've been
(27:49):
and the breakfast is something so completely different than what
I would put in the category of breakfast food. Yeah, totally,
so I would. I think that's a great idea. Yeah, yes, yes,
mangolossy with rosewater sounds amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I love oh yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yes, and I do love how many recommendations we've heard
about siracha alternatives or like other things we can try,
because I I love hotsa, you know, I love patsau
So mm hmm any and all recommendation I am very
happy to get mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Some thanks always, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yes, and thanks to both of these listeners for writing in.
If you would like to write to us, you can.
Our email is Hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
We're also on social media You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and
Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we hope
that lots more good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Dylan Fagan
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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The Podium: An NBC Olympic and Paralympic podcast. Join us for insider coverage during the intense competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the run-up to the Opening Ceremony, we’ll bring you deep into the stories and events that have you know and those you'll be hard-pressed to forget.
2. In The Village
In The Village will take you into the most exclusive areas of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to explore the daily life of athletes, complete with all the funny, mundane and unexpected things you learn off the field of play. Join Elizabeth Beisel as she sits down with Olympians each day in Paris.
3. iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2024 Olympics.