Papaw (also spelled pawpaw) is a North American fruit that grows wild in the eastern United States. It's about the size of a potato, with greenish-yellow skin and soft, custard-like flesh inside that tastes like a blend of banana, mango, and melon. Native Americans valued papaws as an important food source, and Lewis and Clark reportedly survived on papaws during part of their famous expedition when other food ran low.

The papaw tree produces the largest edible fruit native to North America, but you won't often find papaws in grocery stores. They bruise easily and spoil quickly after picking, so most people who eat them either grow their own trees or find them growing wild in forests. The fruit ripens in late summer and early fall, and when it's perfectly ripe, the flesh becomes creamy and sweet.

Many people also use papaw (sometimes spelled pawpaw, paw-paw, or pa-paw) as an affectionate term for their grandfather, similar to grandpa or pop-pop. In this sense, it's a warm, familiar word that families pass down through generations.