I stopped by a farmer’s market today, and saw a crate-load of bright orange persimmons. Not having had them in about a decade, it was all but impossible to resist the temptation to buy a couple. For such a sweet and delicious fruit, it’s surprising that it’s not as popular and widespread as it should be. In fact, I’ve known an individual or two who had no idea what a persimmon was! And I’ve also heard of a poor soul who actually thought they were some sort of tomatoes, and proceeded to make pasta sauce out of them. It must have made for some very interesting pasta indeed… Anyway, I got myself a couple of heart-shaped persimmons of the Hachiya variety, which is somewhat different from the non-astringent, stumpy-looking cultivar I was used to. The taste was essentially identical to what I was already familiar with, though the astringent Hachiya persimmons do contain high levels of tannins, which made for a slightly unpleasant aftertaste (think about what it’d be like to swallow a mouth-full of glue). Apparently, for this reason, making the Hachiyas part of your regular diet is to be discouraged, as the tannins could give rise to some serious stomach issues. However, as an occasional snack or dessert, a persimmon would be quite delightful. Go try one!
Persimmons 101:
1) Peel off the inedible green thingy (calyx)
2) Wash the fruit
3) Skin it, cut it (optional)
4) Enjoy!
Tags: Hachiya, persimmon, persimmons
