In praise of the persimmon

[rawnora]

Persimmon season is getting closer so for those of you living in areas where they grow, I just want to encourage you to take full advantage of the fact that many people who have trees on their property do not eat the fruit and are sometimes glad to have people offer to pick it for them! The hachiya variety especially are the perfect winter fruit because they ripen fully off the tree (as long as they are picked when they have color), and can be kept in a cool room for weeks to ripen slowly and offer just enough fruit for consumption each day. A persimmon ripened in this way far exceeds the ones you can buy in stores quality-wise because refrigeration does not allow the sugars to properly develop. In addition, hachiyas are very fragile and should not be handled when they are beginning to ripen. The ones sold in stores are handled too much, which bruises them. If they are left alone to ripen, they develop into perfect little water balloons full of translucent, sweet jam-like fruit with a very tender skin. No persimmon need ever go to waste, either, because if they start to ripen faster than you can eat them, they can be cut up and frozen. Persimmon ice cream looks like orange sherbet but tastes like tutti-frutti ice cream, much sweeter than banana ice cream.

I'm planning a persimmon-gathering road trip in mid November and would like to connect with as many raw fooders as possible in the Sacramento-San Francisco-Sebastapol area, or anywhere along the I-5 corridor between Seattle and the Bay area. Anyone interested in swapping overnight accommodations for some free coaching or Life Science CDs (not yet available on the market)? Feel free to contact me off list.

Warm wishes,
Nora
nmlenz@speakeasy.net

[sport]

I had to google it. I know it as a Sharon Fruit. I love them.

[justbananas]

WOW!!! that sounds like so much fun.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Does this mean we get permissions to eat persimmons? ;)

Get it...it's a play on words...

ya know...

I'm weird...

Since it's my fruit and all...

[spicyfull]

YES, YES, YES...........I LOVE PERSIMMONS, AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DO. MOST PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THEM AND THEY ROT ON THE TREE/GROUND. BY THE WAY DID I SAY I LOVE PERSIMMONS. I THINK OURS ARE JAPANESE, THE LARGE ONES. IN THE SOUTH I HAD THE SMALL ONES.

Before I became RAW, I would get so many and freeze them and make shakes out of them, which was still RAW. I forgot I had a favorite fruit, although I love em' all.

Thanks for the Thread,,,,,,,,Oh I forgot to tell you....I LOVE PERSIMMONS..........

[0omzRAWkero0]

You know i just started loving persimmons ever since i became raw not too long ago..And i started liking it when i first bought dried persimmons at farmer's market and ate the whole bag for lunch, yikes! It was good and sweet, but haven't really tried the real fruit yet until i finally bought some 2 weeks ago. OMG, that one tasted even better, it's like eating an apple with a taste of banana..so that is one of my top favorite fruits so far..

I'm a raw foodist here in the Bay Area. I'll email you soon and would like to know more info about this..It does sounds interesting though..Thanks.

[kaybee]

can i eat the skin on persimmons? when they are so soft its usually hard to get them out of the skin....can i just pull out the pit and throw the whole thing into a smoothie..... also, are they usually sprayed with pesticides or is this a fruit that goes pesticide free usually?

thanks

[Fragola]

Nora, I adore persimmons too, and i know a lot of people that have trees and let the fruits get rotten!! How odd!! The good thing is that often I can get free fruits from them.
I would love to offer you accomodation in Italy, and free persimmons too :),
if you will ever come on this side of the planet for a trip!!
Sara

[rawnora]

Sara,
I am sooo tempted! Thanks for the offer and I will keep it in mind! Happy persimmon season. :)

Kaybee,
Yes, the skin should be eaten. Persimmons don't have a large pit, but I have found seeds in maybe 10% of the ones I've eaten. The only thing that needs to be discarded before blending is the greenish/brownish crown where the stem attaches. If people who own private trees spray at all, it's usually when there is no fruit on the tree. If you're concerned about pesticides, just wash the fruit. Fresh, unrefrigerated, uncultivated persimmons are too good to pass up for a little pesticide residue, even if it's there, which is a long shot.

OomzRAWkeroO,
I hope we can connect!

Regards,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

[kaybee]

rawnora--thanks for the info--i was finding it hard to separate the skin off anyway.... im living in rome for the semester, and id only had persimmons once at home in washington DC and they werent so thrilling. but the ones here are totally different--

fragola--if you have any friends in rome that want the persimmons picked off their trees, let me know and I'd be happy to go take them off their hands :) we've got some on the trees at school that Ive been carting home, but would love to have more for free :)

thanks
kb

[Angelic Light]

I love persimmons! I had 4 tonight!

[konmai]

i love, love, love persimmons!!!! definitely get as much as u can!

I live on the east coast & don't know of a place that would have them fresh on a tree. :p the grocery store will probably have them though, but I haven't seen them yet. they're really expensivo here -- about $1 for each one!!!!!!!!! :eek:

can i stay w/ u when i come to cali just to get persimmons? hehe. :p

[romanticsnet]

Wow... my friend has 10 trees. They are the Fuyu variety. They can be eaten like an apple while hard. I love these the best! I know I have 2 Hachiya variety on the counter, that I am waiting for to ripen.

I am going over with my Mom to pick some tomorrow! I cannot wait! Last year I ate 10-15 persimmons a day! I LOVE THEM!
HOORAY!!!! BTW, how do you make persimmon ice cream?? Do you just freeze and blend in the food processor? That sounds WAY delicious!

[Vandy]

OOOOHHH MAN!! I wish I could be there! Unfortunately, I don't live in the area, but I LLOOVVVEEE persimmons... wanna hear a funny story? My parents just mailed me a WHOLE CASE of persimmons lol. I am waiting for them to ripen.

When I was home, my grandmother's neighbor has a tree, and I would go and pick from it everyday. I have never had such juicy persimmons. I am homesick now lol. The best is when it's perfectly ripe and falls into your hand...ooo man.

[Fragola]

fragola--if you have any friends in rome that want the persimmons picked off their trees, let me know and I'd be happy to go take them off their hands :) we've got some on the trees at school that Ive been carting home, but would love to have more for free :)

thanks
kb

Kaybee, unfortunately I don't live in Rome anymore and I don't know people in town with persimmon trees... but if you are willing to travel and see Venice I may find out something for you
:D

[kaybee]

thanks :)

would love to see venice and around italy, but unfortunately I have classes and loads of schoolwork :mad: i keep "stealing" fruit from the garden at school. its at a monastic house (angelicum) and apparently its ok for us to pick the fruit because they dont use a lot of it... so oranges, persimmons, and these big clunky pear-like things that turned out to be quinces are all taking regular trips home in my schoolbag :) ive never picked oranges off a tree before.

btw--thanks for the info about that market on the last sunday of the month--i just got back from checking it out and got loads of stuff. the produce was beautiful and i got a big jar of raw organic honey that I guess is made from the bees collection oak sap.... that market was really cool. i wish it was more than once a month.

-k