Sunday, October 25, 2009

Our Friend Persimmon



Persimmons (pictured above in a hastily-assembled glamor shot taken on my dirty kitchen counter) are a common fruit in Japan and one of Yamanashi's big fall crops. This big was the start of the harvest, so multiple students brought a total of three shopping bags worth into AEON. I plundered all I could reasonably hope to eat within the next two weeks and left the rest in the kitchen.

Persimmons (Japanese kaki) are tough fruits with an inside texture similar to a melon drained of every ounce of juice. The skin is no good for eating, so one has to invest a great deal of time slicing through their leathery outside in order to enjoy the edible portion (which tastes pleasantly similar to dried apricot). The payoff is not quite worth the work required, but the taste is unique enough so that I keep cutting up more. Plus, you know, they were freakin' free.

5 comments:

Randall Nichols said...

I bet a slap-chop would solve this problem.

Sam said...

Those look like if oranges and tomatoes had babies.

The Tominator said...

Aren't those the ones they sell at the store... with an oddly square shape to them?
Can you ask your students if they have engineered them to grow square for packing purposes??

lbuibuibui said...

i disagree ian.they do not taste like apricots. persimmons are best when they are very ripe but still firm.

you can find them all over the states if you look at the right grocery store.

hope you had a lovely halloween!

Ian said...

If I had to compare the taste of a persimmon to anything, it would be an apricot, though I do admit that the difference between the taste is quite wide.