"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.
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| Photo courtesy of SlowFoodUSA.org |
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.
- Using your fingers, remove the blossom tops and pinch off any darkened spots.
- 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.
- 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.
- Get a fine mesh strainer and place inside another clean bowl; pour the mashed fruit in the strainer.
- Using the masher or a spoon, press the pulp through the strainer. You will be left with a ton of seeds, skins, and fibers.
