Is Papaya Killing Your Sex Drive?

Have you ever heard that papaya can kill your sex drive? Everyone knows this to be a fact? I certainly didn’t.

Several years ago I was traveling in Asia with my buddy John Huang. John is a Chinese Filipino who was our sales manager for Asia and we were in the midst of a long car ride in Korea. John is a devout Catholic and I had told him that my uncle Pat was a Catholic priest. Out of nowhere John says to me: “Your uncle must eat a lot of papaya.” My response was: “excuse me?” “Yeah”, John said: “Everyone knows that priests eat a lot of papaya because it kills your sex drive.”

I explained that my uncle didn’t have a sex drive. He was a priest living in a monastery at Villanova University. Picture an 80 year-old Archie Bunker in a Roman collar. Father Pat probably didn’t know what a papaya was. He was strictly a meat and potatoes kind of guy and certainly wasn’t worried about his sex drive.

Fast-forward a few years when I was visiting my cousin Virginia in Hawaii. Ginny and her husband Rich live on Maui near Hana. They have an organic farm and one of their principle crops…you guessed it…papaya. One morning Rich and I go off into their orchard with a long pole to pick some papaya for our morning smoothies. So I say to Rich: “You know that papaya kills your sex drive.” Well Rich certainly didn’t know that and almost took offense to the suggestion.

What got me on this tangent? I was watching an old episode of the Barefoot Contessa where she starts her day off with a papaya smoothie.

Check it out https://youtu.be/Ikf92NioGUE

I always love Ina Garten because of her practical cooking and entertainment advice. I am also a fan because she opened her first shop in Westhampton N.Y. down the road from my mom’s house. She was in Westhampton (the poor man’s Hampton) for a few years before moving to Easthampton where the real money is. A story she tells really explains the difference. She had just opened her shop in Easthampton when she noticed a customer hemming and hawing over how much lobster salad to buy. Ina was fearful that her price of $25 a pound was causing his reluctance. When she asked if he needed help he told her: “I am just not sure if I need 5 or 6 pounds”. There is real money in Easthampton and they certainly are not worried about papaya killing their sex drive.

How about a rum infused papaya smoothie as an amuse bouche at your next supper club dinner party? It would be a hit…just don’t tell folks that it may kill their sex drive.

 

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

3 Comments

    • It is an old asian belief that papaya kills your sex drive. My cousin’s husband who farms and eats papaya says its an old wives tale. A google search tells us:Papaya happens to be rich in the enzyme called arginine that stimulates blood flow in the male reproductive organ. Ironically, many men avoid eating papaya because they are wrongly informed that papaya lessens their sex drive. On the contrary, not missing out on this fruit will keep a man active in the game

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *