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Friday, November 17, 2006

Persimmons and Frozen Persimmon Sorbet

[Looking for vegan Thanksgiving ideas? Scroll down or click here!]



I've been eating persimmons my whole life, but I never bought one until a couple of weeks ago. I grew up in southeast Louisiana, where my father, a horticulture professor at a research branch of LSU, kept (and still keeps) a garden full of interesting fruit trees. All throughout the year we'd enjoy the various fruits of his labor—tangerines, oranges, blueberries, lemons, figs, peaches, and pears— plus a few fruits none of my friends had ever heard of such as kumquats, calamondins, satsumas, and persimmons. As a child I believed that the unusual ones were monster fruits that my father had actually invented! But then I started seeing kumquats in stores, and I realized that my father was just about 20 years ahead of everyone else.

It went against my nature to buy persimmons when I know that there are perfectly good ones hanging like Christmas ornaments on my father's trees, but since those persimmons are a two hour drive away, I decided to try the store-bought persimmons. And boy am I glad I did! These persimmons have something my father's don't. Or, rather, they don't have something my father's do—seeds. The persimmons I grew up eating had several seeds per fruit, so imagine my surprise when I cut open one of the store-bought persimmons and found no seeds:



Let me tell you, this is a big improvement! When you're all set to eat a very ripe, juicy persimmon, the last thing you want is a bunch of seeds getting in the way.

I also found that there are two different types of persimmons being sold in my area. The ones in the two photos above are called Hachiya, and they have to be very soft before you eat them or they'll have what they call an "astringent" quality, meaning they'll make your mouth all puckery. They're similar to the ones my dad grows, but without seeds. If you let them get so soft that you're afraid they've gone bad, then they'll taste so sweet and juicy that you'll be scraping the skin with your teeth to get off all the fruit.

In an Asian grocery store, I found another variety of persimmon that I had never tasted. It was labeled "Japanese persimmon," and from what I've read, they're also called Fuyu. While the Hachiya is sort of acorn-shaped and often has a pointy bottom, the Fuyu is squatty, shaped more like a flattened apple. The wonderful thing about the Fuyu is that it is not astringent at all, and you can eat it while it is still hard and it will be sweet. I couldn't believe how delicious the Fuyu I bought was and was sorry I'd only bought the one that you see in the photo on the left. I'll definitely be going back to the market soon to get a whole bag of them.

I like to eat persimmons just as they are and have never felt the need to cook with them. (From what I've read, the Hachiyas are the ones you can cook with, but I really don't see why Fuyus couldn't be cooked, also.) It's possible to make puddings, pies, cookies, and cakes with persimmons, so I went searching for an easy persimmon recipe that didn't use a lot of sugar or flour, and I found the mother of all simple recipes—Frozen Persimmon Sorbet:



See what I mean? It doesn't get much simpler than that. You just put the persimmon (washed, of course) into the freezer for about 2 hours, until it's slushy but not frozen solid, take it out, cut off the top, and dig in with a spoon. A cool, delicious treat!

One caveat: I had high hopes that this would be a simple yet elegant dessert for serving guests, sort of like lemon sorbet served in lemon halves. Well, it was simple but not, I'm afraid, elegant. Persimmons have a tendency to collapse after you've taken a few spoonfuls from their centers, so if you want to get more than a couple of bites, you have to find some way to scrape the flesh off the inside, and there's just no way to do that without getting your hands dirty. I've tried. It's best to save the frozen persimmons for a cozy dinner with someone you love. Someone who doesn't mind seeing you pick up a persimmon skin and scrape it clean with your teeth.

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11 Comments:

Blogger Alanna said...

I'm new to persimmons too, though so far, just wild persimmons with so many seeds that last night it took half an hour just to get a cup of puree without (mostly) seeds. So ... now I'm on the hunt for both of these!

10:33 AM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for a great blog - I read it regularly and use a lot of your ideas.

The info on persimmons was very useful since I had one sitting on my counter but I thought I had to let it get really mushy. After reading your post I realized it was a Fuyu persimmon, so I cut it open on the spot. It was amazing! Full of perfume, soft, incredible. Thanks!

11:20 AM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just had to comment because I *love* persimmons! Your post made me smile, and it's so interesting that your dad has all those fruit trees- very lucky!
I just had a persimmon for breakfast this morning. When I lived in CA, they were more widely available, and it stinks that I have to pay $1.50 for one here in NY, but I just love these little guys.

11:24 AM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous Evangeline said...

Thank you for this post! I've never had a persimmon, but now I'm going to go get one!

11:40 AM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous Collie said...

I'm so glad that someone else out there in cyberland loves persimmons too! I just blogged about them myself. I get dozens of Fuyu ever year from a co-worker of my mother's. I always have two for breakfast and they're fantastic. Unripened or ripe :D The only downside is that I can never leave them to ripen long enough to bake with because I can't help but eat them raw when they're still hard! ;)

12:50 PM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've never tried a persimmon! I thought it was some heirloom tomato when I first saw the photo! I think I will grab some, let them get soft, then eat them raw. Seedless...sounds great.

You are lucky that your dad has all those fruit trees. No wonder you are so food-talented!

5:22 PM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have only tried persimmons once, and they were the hachiya (or however you spell it) and they were under ripe, which of course I did not know, and they nearly made our mouths disintegrate! They were awful, and yes, astringent is the exact word I used. I thought they had gone bad, I even returned them to the store! Now I know better...

7:39 PM, November 17, 2006  
Anonymous KathyF said...

I bought a persimmon last year, inspired by a blog post somewhere, and I was scared to eat it! Let it sit and turn to mush. Darn!

1:48 AM, November 18, 2006  
Anonymous urus said...

I like the idea of science and farming interacting. Farming, or even gardening, really sems such a bore without the idea of mad scientists cross-breeding exotic species and geneticists radioactively modifying plant genes; coming up with something that's not like the same old turnip we've eaten for a million years. New ideas are rad!! DUH!! DAT'S WAT I TINK!!

12:27 PM, November 18, 2006  
Anonymous laquetha said...

Every Friday at the child development center I work we have fruity Friday for the older kids. We had persimmons and only 3 of the kids liked the fruit. I did not like it, it made my mouth very dry so I guess it was not that soft. But I will try it again.

9:27 PM, November 18, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I always eat them on the whole, like an apple, skin and flesh and juice and everything. Shouldn't you? Of course, this is not elegant either...

2:28 PM, July 03, 2007  

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