Over at 66 Square Feet (the Food) I posted a recipe for this deliciously autumnal persimmon loaf. It's good just with butter, or with this tart viburnum jelly (I used invasive linden viburnum - Viburnum dilatatum). Red currant jam would be nice, or even a sharp cheese, grated roughly and packed on top with a schmear of chutney.
I love persimmons.
Locally the little American persimmons are ripe (above) - the trees are so tall that windstorms are helpful for shaking off the ripe fruits. And the large Asian persimmons are arriving at delis, bodegas and markets.
Some quick persimmon tips:
Native persimmons and big Asian Hachiyas must be jelly-soft to be ripe.
Fat-bottomed Fuyu persimmons are sweet when still firm.
Freeze very ripe Hachiyas for instant sorbet. Take out of the freezer 15 minutes before slicing them in half and scooping.
For baking or drink mixing, pulp ripe persimmons.
The small naive persimmons smell like roses and ripe apricots when very ripe. I put them through my foodmill's medium mesh to remove the occasional seeds and the thin skin.
The pulp is like taffy and very aromatic. I freeze it by the half-cupful.
The freezer is getting full.
Lots more persimmon tips and recipes in Forage, Harvest, Feast.
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I love persimmons! and they are so hard to find here. The local fruit CSA used to have an employee who was allowed to sell his at their stand, but he has moved on. The dry cleaner has a tree, but i don't feel like i can beg from him more than occasionally, so mainly i just eye his tree and sigh!
ReplyDeleteDo you have any Asian grocery stores around?
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