Grandma loved ‘em. Grandpa grew ‘em. Never tasted one. Lots of seeds.

Your thoughts?

Never had one. Costco has them during the holidays and they look like odd tomatoes. But very cool looking.

How does one eat them?

No persimmons, but in the odd fruit category the farmers market sometimes has pawpaws. Taste and texture similar to a banana.

We had an old persimmon tree growing in our school yard when I was a kid. I remember them as being sickly sweet and sticky. I also remember the squashed ones on the blacktop of our kickball court attracted hordes of yellow jackets

A Tale of the ‘Simmon Tree
There was a wild persimmon tree growing beside my
Dad’s mini Great Wall of salvaged bricks in our backyard when I was a young kid. As soon as I was old enough I’d climb up on the wall each fall to pick them. They’re only good once frost has been on them. Before that they’re very astringent and inedible. (Even possums don’t eat them green.) Mama being the good sport she was, felt obliged to do something with them so she found a recipe for persimmon pudding. My Dad and I thought it was wonderful. You put the persimmons through a colander or a food mill to extract the pulp and juice, leaving the skin and seeds. The pulp and juice are mixed with eggs, sugar, milk and spices and baked. Persimmon pudding has a texture halfway between pumpkin pie and jello. It’s best cold. Mama’s was so stiff you can hold a piece in your hand. So this past fall I took a chance on some big, cultivated Japanese style persimmons from Misfits Market. I’d heard the cultivated ones aren’t as flavorful as the wild ones but I took a chance anyway. I have Mama’s old recipe but had never made it myself. The Misfits persimmons came hard as walnuts. After about a week, the creatures were ripe (they need to be dead ripe) I put them through a food mill (feeling very retro). It turned out as wonderful as I remembered, if not quite as stiff as Mama’s. William and Cass both liked it. William though it was better than pumpkin pie. I’d say a good batch of it is a cross between pumpkin pie and gingerbread.
Very good chilled with a bit of evaporated milk or Redi whip over it.

Frycek, that sounds wonderful. I know my grandmother liked persimmons, but I’ve never tried one.

Frycek, that sounds amazing

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
sickly sweet and sticky

This has always been my impression of persimmons. I had never eaten one before going to Japan. The big thing in Mr. SK's hometown is to dry them... Now I'm not remembering but maybe they're peeled and then hung up?? Anyway, that made them a little better, but I never really liked them.

I would try Frycek's pudding though, sounds awesome!

I’ll post the actual recipe later.

Used to have persimmon fights with my cousins and brothers all the time when we were kids. They're about a perfect size for whinging at you "enemies".

There are two kinds, the tall oblong, and the round tomato shape. I don’t remember which is which, but one you eat somewhat crunchy, and the other you wait til it seems overripe and squishy. I don’t like either one. Too sweet. Especially the smushy ones!