WineLovers Discussion Group

I am wondering what this fruit is. It is growing on a tall tree with very rough bark in Missouri by Daniel Boones grave.

The top is four pointed hard and almost black.


The fruit is soft and ripe, has a jelly like flesh and smells of apricot.
This is a windfall. The tree has lost all its leaves but there are still fruits hanging - but they are very high.



There seems to be one seed inside, bottom right of picture, which is oval very thin and flat.

What is it?

That is a little wild Persimmon. They do grow in the South and are not that uncommon.

Frank nailed it, IMO. We have several of these trees in our Maryland back yard.

Frank, many thanks!!

Jon, do you do anything with the fruit?

Peter May wrote:Jon, do you do anything with the fruit?

After the first hard frost, the fruit of our trees is barely palatable, they are way too astringent to do anything with. In fact, they are the most astringent thing I've ever eaten.

Ah Jon -- there is some folk wisdom for you. You are right that an unripe persimmon will "turn your mouth inside out!" I was told that endlessly as a child, as there were persimmon trees around. (There is a puckered mouth face that goes along with the saying). But you can pick them and keep them until very soft and eventually they are as sweet in the mouth as they are to the nose. And I think freezing them helps that process. We need to Google this subject...

The Asian persimmons I see in grocery stores here have already gone thru that softening process and should taste about the same as our wild ones will eventually. They are much larger...

PS = THIS covers the subject nicely. When persimmons can be picked without destroying them they are not ripe. They achieve a texture like Jello when they are ripe. Read interesting article pls.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homestea ... z2jd4je1mj

I'm probably in the minority, but I like persimmon pudding. He is another site that has some general persimmon info and some recipes.
http://www.persimmonpudding.com/

Jon Peterson wrote: In fact, they are the most astringent thing I've ever eaten.

I would have said the same thing, until after I bit into an olive from a tree.

Frank, thank you. Liz and I will try to pick them and keep them until very soft. This was good to hear as it seemed a waste not to use them somehow.

If you pick them unripe -- use scissors or knife and take some stem along with the fruit.

Everyone seems to agree that they won't really ripen without the stem attached.

Evidently if you have several trees -- they ripen unevenly and you should be able to find ripe ones now, but only a few out of the total number of fruits.

We "pick" those wild persimmons by collecting the ones that have fallen off the tree. Jean and Andrew made a persimmon-black walnut bread using black walnuts collected from the tree in our backyard (this year, we got enough rain to give lots of meat). Alas, despite Jean's inclusion of chocolate chips in one version, Andrew still refused to try any. Jean and I had a great tea time treat, though.

Mark Lipton

What everyone said. As a child growing up in the South, every kid sooner or later was dared to eat an unripe persimmon. "Turns your mouth inside out" was how we described it too.

My mother occasionally made persimmon bread and persimmon pudding, kinda like a bread pudding. And I remember an Aunt who used to make a candied persimmon kinda thing as well. Sort of apricot-y, but not quite.

The persimmon varieties sold here are non-astringent varieties such as Fuyu or Jiro. The fruit is very firm when ripe and can be eaten like an apple. Very yummy, but a bit expensive usually.

http://www.edible.co.nz/fruits.php?fruitid=52