Wild persimmons are the Steve Buscemi of the fruit world. They’re wrinkly, ungainly and downright weird looking. But one bite of these sweet treats will turn you into a dedicated fan. Unlike their cultivated counterparts, usually the Fuyu variety that you’ll see in grocery stores later this winter, wild persimmons are smaller, darker and slightly sweeter.
About the size of a cherry tomato, persimmons grow wild and are harvested by hand and then brought to local markets by purveyors such as Yoder Produce of Belle Rive, Ill., who then sell them at the Tower Groves Farmers’ Market for $3.50 per box. They taste somewhat apple-y and – when they’re just ripe – can be eaten in a similar fashion.
Once you bring them home from the market, be sure to get to them right away because they go from perfectly ripe to overly soft in just a few days. The taste doesn’t change, but the texture becomes closer to that of a fig. You’ll probably want to peel off the skin which, while edible, many people find a bit too gritty. Be careful of the seeds, too; these little guys have a high seed-to-flesh ratio.
Wild persimmons make a great table fruit or lunchbox treat and, for years, baked persimmon puddings graced the Thanksgiving tables around the Midwest and Southeastern United States. And that’s a much better fate than ending up in a wood chipper.
– Shannon Parker
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2010.