Thursday, December 4, 2008
Foods Pucker Up! It's Persimmon Season
Posted by Carrington Fox on Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 5:05 AM
It's that bittersweet time of year when the persimmon trees rain pithy packets of flavor onto the lawns of bemused homeowners who behold the fruitful crop and think, "What the hell am I gonna do with this?"
It depends on what kind of persimmons you've got, says chef Andrew Chadwick, who occasionally ships in a batch of the autumnal fruit from California to his restaurant on Rutledge Hill. If you've got a non-astringent kind--such as the Fuyu persimmons pictured above--he recommends shaving them with a mandolin and tossing thin slices in a salad of frisée.
If you've got an astringent variety--such as the Hachiya persimmon, which is larger and more elongated than the Fuyu--you need to be sure they're really ripe, or the bitterness will punish your palate. When they're nice and soft, Chadwick likes to plate them with lobster, or he recommends steaming them in a traditional pudding or just eating them plain.
If you are not lucky enough to have a persimmon tree bestowing its orange bounty onto your lawn, you might try foraging at Whole Foods. While there aren't actually any persimmons in the Green Hills store right now, an associate said she expects to receive some very soon. Meanwhile, if you have any worthwhile recipes for persimmons--of any variety--please post them below.
Comments (6)
Showing 1-6 of 6
They've been littering the trails in Warner Parks for several weeks - just keep an ear out for slurping sounds and you'll find someone slipping several into a plastic bag, usually with juice running down their chins. I'm not suggesting you do the same, just saying...
like
dislike
S L -- I was remembering some persimmon trees near the nature center on Highway 100, I think. Can you recommend any other prolific persimmon spots in the park?
I found them along the white trail in the part of the park on the north/east side of OHB. If you start the trail at the trail head across from the entrance near Vaughns Gap, it would be the left hand part of the loop. That's as close as I can do for you.
There is also one I just found on my driveway, which made me feel better much, much about what I had thought was a very lonely male persimmon on the other side of my house. It's only taken me fifteen years to figure out his pollen wasn't going to waste after all. Makes me think this must be a banner year for persimmon production.
I too have a persimmon tree dropping fragrant balls of goo on the lawn. I only pick up the ones without cracks. Pitch into plastic container in freezer until I have enuf. (Frost improves their flavor). Sugar down. Cook 5 minutes. Put through food mill. In the past, I've made a persimmon pudding, that's a pudding in the English sense of baked but soft and scoopable, served with orange nutmeg whipped crm. This year trying a lemon-glazed persimmon bar from Epicurious.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Glazed-Persimmon-Bars-231206
hey half a ton - the beauty of a Loar F5 would be wasted here, and methinks even its sweet tone could not dull the ferocity of this fruit's bite. Best to use the mandolin(e) made by the likes of Oxo instead.
Fluffer - my grandmother used to make persimmon cookies, if you haven't thought of that yet. (Personally, can't stand 'em. They're just like an even bigger cooked raisin. blech.)
