Are there local papayas in California or are they all imported? Imported tropical fruits suck.
I am pretty sure they don't grow papayas in CA. Imported tropical fruits is the only way we get them: Bananas, mangoes, papayas, pineapples (my local largish indy supermarket-produce emporium stocks others, many others, but I ignore that stuff). I don't care for most of the mangoes for sale here, the pineapples aren't as good as the ones I used to pick for free in Hawaii, but some are pretty good. Used to get great free mangoes there too, they just fell to the ground from huge wild trees. I don't buy papayas. I'm not all that high on them. I ALWAYS have eatable bananas in the kitchen. I think they are generally grown in Ecuador. Even a very green banana will usually ripen pretty well, just takes longer. Warmth helps, and the gas they give off, it helps the process, so having several together speeds up ripening (e.g. in a bowl or even a bag). And remove the tape they put over the ends, that's to prevent that gas from exiting, effectively slowing the ripening process... or leave it on, if you want them to ripen more slowly.