Is that tonight's vegetable course up in that tree?

Of course, the papaya is a fruit rather than a vegetable by any scientific definition. However, if you want to define produce by the way that it is eaten, as a US court once famously did in the case of the tomato, then you might reasonably call green papayas vegetables as well.

Take an immature papaya, peel it, cut out the pulp that's just beginning to turn into seeds from the middle, dice the remaining firm green stuff and steam it --- and voila! You have a dish with a taste and texture that's remarkably like chayote. Add a little butter, salt and pepper and it makes a delicious vegetable course, unless you care to quibble over botany.

Photo and serving suggestion by Eric Jackson