Persimmon Season

Ask any middle class suburbanite how they know that the Fall season has arrived and you will undoubtedly get the response:
   
           "When Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Late is back!"

Joking aside, as a locovore, I sense the arrival of Fall when I start to see my neighborhood Persimmon trees bearing their fruit. Wild persimmons are one of the most common yet overlooked American fruit. The taste has been described as a cross between a plum and an apricot, and I would add that the pulp smells similar to pumpkin.

Photo courtesy of SlowFoodUSA.org

Wild persimmons are native to a wide swath of the southeastern U.S. Early American settlers valued persimmon because it was easily available and literally falls into your hands when you shake a ripe tree. The fruit was commonly used to make breads, thick soups and sweet pudding.

Though the trees are harder to find now because of general deforestation, modern persimmon recipes abound, and most of them start with the same base: persimmon pulp. A fair warning: Preparing persimmon pulp can be time consuming (but worth the effort).

Persimmon Pulp How-To
Make sure to gather only ripe fruit. Ripe persimmons are evenly orange and squish easily (this is probably why they aren't commonly sold in grocery stores). They should fall off the branch with just a light touch.

1. Using your fingers, remove the blossom tops and pinch off any darkened spots. 
2. Lightly rinse the fruit and place in a large, clean bowl. Add warm water until the fruit are all submerged and allow to soak for 20 minutes.
3. After soaking, pour out the water and return the fruit to the bowl. Get a potato masher (or similar tool) and mash the persimmons into a pudding like consistency. 
4. Get a fine mesh strainer and place inside another clean bowl; pour the mashed fruit in the strainer.
5. Using the masher or a spoon, press the pulp through the strainer. You will be left with a ton of seeds, skins, and fibers.

Compost the remains and your seed-free persimmon pulp is ready for use!