I'd never seen a persimmon tree until I moved into a house with a beautiful , 40-foot tall one just outside the kitchen window. As fall arrived that first year, my wife and I watched with delight as the tree shed its leaves to reveal brigh to range fruits hanging from the bare branches like Chinese lanterns.
Eager for a taste of our home -grown fruit, I picked a firm, flame- orange persimmon and took a bite. My mouth puckered up and I spit the pulp out on the ground. Later I learned that tannins make all but the softest persimmons inedible. A ripe persimmon is pudding soft, and its flavor is pure ambrosia.
If you've never tasted one before, imagine something like a plum crossed with a honey- sweet winter
squash.
American persimmons grow wild and are not cultivated commercially. They are small-abou t the size of a plump cherry. The persimmons you'll find in stores were first cultivated in Asia. Most are grown in California, but persimmons from Chile often turn up in the off season.
Asian persimmons come in both a stringent and non a stringent varieties. Astringent persimmons are
soft when ripe. As I discovered when I first bit into one, harsh tannins make this type of persimmon inedible unless it is fully ripened. As the fruit matures, the tannins soften, the sugars develop, and the luscious flavors of the fruit come forward. Hachiya is the most common a stringent variety.
The easiest way to enjoy an a stringent type persimmon is to simply cut off the top leaf stem from a very ripe fruit and eat the delectably messy pulp with a spoon. Non a stringent varieties, sometimes called crisp persimmons, are becoming more widely available in American markets. Identified by their flattened, four-lobe shape, their flesh is free of pucker causing tannins. Because they're firm when ripe, crisp persimmons can be neatly sliced and used in compotes and fruit salads.
Fuyu is the most common firm-ripe persimmon. Some, called Giant Fuyus, weigh as much as a pound. Another firm variety, called Chocolate persimmon because of its brown- stre aked skin, has
rich-flavored flesh. There's also a crisp persimmon from Israel called a Sharon fruit.
Persimmons will ripen slowly at room temperature. To hurry the process along, put the fruit in a paper bag with a ripe banana or apple : the persimmon will be re ady to eat in three to six days. Once ripened, persimmons can be refrigerated briefly. Freezing is sometimes recommended as a way to
ripen persimmons, but freezing won't remove all the tannins and the fruit will remain unpleasantly bitter. A frozen perfectly ripe persimmon, however, makes a refreshing sherbet-like dessert.
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