Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Citrus! In Oregon?

When I first saw these trees I thought (for just second) citrus! Then I remembered I don’t live in California, or Arizona. And besides...where are the leaves?Then I wondered what kind of person decorates their trees for Thanksgiving? Then I realized they were persimmons! Aren’t they fabulous, how seasonally picture perfect!
I’ve never ate a persimmon, have you?

10 comments:

  1. We had a persimmon tree in the backyard of our rental duplex in California. Man, was it messy! I guess there are some types of persimmons that get sweet and rip before they turn mushy, but not this tree. So we never ate them, and they fell off the tree and made an awful stink. I wouldn't want to scrape the mushy fruit off that sidewalk in a month or two.

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  2. Many of them need cooking before they are any good, but they are good when just ripe,not over ripe,and certainly not under ripe,in fact the
    only way to usually get a perfect one is to have a tree, i think its lovely!

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  3. Are they edible? Kidding. I have not tried them but they sure look cool on the tree. There is an apricot tree near here. I didn't realize apricots grew in Oregon. They looked cool on the tree too.

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  4. I have eaten the two kinds of persimmons-the one that gets sweet while still crisp, grown by a friend's mother in California-that was a memorable experience-as well as the one that gets soft before it gets sweet and you scoop out the flesh with a spoon-also lovely-especially the ones I had in South East Asia. The taste of the soft kind reminds me strongly of the caimite fruit Chrysophyllum cainito L.

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  5. A neighbor-friend recently gave me several Japanese (Fuyu) persimmons. They're ripe when still firm. Perfect in small chunks in a salad of greens, hazelnuts and bleu cheese. The mushy-ripe persimmons are a different kind (Hayachi?). The Fuyu persimmons are gently sweet, but not overly so. And they're beautiful late-autumn fruits!

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  6. There are Asian persimmons and American persimmons. The American and a good number of the Asian cultivars are astringent, which means you have to wait for the fruit to soften and ripen before eating, othewise they will turn your mouth inside out. When these astringent ones are ripe they have a very soft gelatinous texture which I don't care for, but they are great to bake with. Many of the Asian varieties are non-astringent and you can eat them while the flesh is still firm and crisp. When these crisp ones are good, they are fantastic. All of them are chocked full of vitamins, beta-carotene and anti-oxidents.

    No I am not a member of the persimmon advisory board.

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  7. VW, I hadn't thought of the clean-up aspect. What a nightmare! I'd be out there picking the fruit before it fell to the ground to avoid that chore....

    JJ, they are definitely show stoppers. Since I've discovered these I've noticed many others just stopping to stare.

    Grace, I don't think I've ever seen an apricot tree. I have a friend who makes chocolate dipped apricots at Christmas time. Pretty much heaven.

    Nicole, I am learning so much from you all!

    Jane, that salad sounds FABULOUS, almost enough to make me go knock on their door and find out just what they're growing and see if we can work a trade...

    Les, fabulous information! I love learning these things. And just how much were you paid by the persimmon cartel for this comment, eh? :)

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  8. I have about a half dozen fuyu persimmons left in a bowl on the counter.
    A client gave them to me and they are fantastic tasting.
    I never had a persimmon when I was growing up in New England.

    I love the look of a persimmon tree at this exact time of year.
    The fruit is plump and orange as it dangles from a leafless tree.

    yummy to the eye and the tummy.

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  9. I love the look of Persimmon trees. They seem very unlikely here, I'm always surprised to come across them. You don't often see them in stores, do you? They must not keep well. They're so pretty, I'd grow them just for that.

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  10. I think of them as CA trees too (a relative had a similar tree/mess to VW's) but have enjoyed seeing them here, surprising but zone-appropriate I guess. I get intrigued by them in the store but then freaked out because I can never remember which are which and they end up just being decorative. Fuyu and Hachiya, no? I have heard the eat-when-ripe ones can be frozen and then eaten straight out of the skin with a spoon, but I've never tried that. Good find!

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