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Persimmon Recipes
PERSIMMON - Diospyros virginiana
One of the great hidden treasures of the South and Midwest, persimmons are best consumed, much like the pawpaw, at the foot of the tree. The trees are easy to identify during any season with chunky bark that looks a lot like alligator skin. Unless picked from the ground, soft and mushy, the fruit of the persimmon can be bitter. This did not deter the Native Americans, as they used the unripe fruit for medicine and dried the ripe fruit for the winter months.
General Preparation Info
Collect about twice as much as you need because they’re mostly seeds. You are looking for that sweet, hazard-orange persimmon goop. The easiest way is to use a food mill, but with excessive use, it can start to grate bits of seed into the mush. Seed bits = bad taste + bad texture. A better way is to put your fruit into a food processor with a plastic blade attachment. You must use the plastic one, or else you end up with blended seeds. Pulse your fruit a couple of times to loosen it up. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on low speed. The goal is to mush up the fruit without crushing the seeds. Next is the fun part: get a strainer, big holes are best, and start mushing your puree through, leaving all your seeds. When your fruit and forearms are equally strained, toss the separated seeds out into a local wooded area to ensure your children will someday have the joy of processing persimmons when they, and the trees, are grown.
Use your refrigerated goop within two days or freeze it for later use up to eight months.