Persimmons: A Southern Fruit with Deep Roots and a Puckery Past

My first experience with persimmons came as a young lad about nine or ten years old. I was visiting my cousins in a small Texas Panhandle town when one of them approached me with a reddish-orange, baseball-sized orb picked from a large tree in their backyard. When I asked what it was, they told me it was a persimmon—a deliciously sweet fruit that I had to try. So I took a big bite, which I promptly spit out.

“That’s disgusting,” I said. “It’s sooo sweet—like eating a mouthful of sugar.”

Laughing at my reaction, they told me that if I thought ripe persimmons were bad, I should try tasting one when it’s green. “It’s so sour it’ll make your mouth pucker,” they said. With that knowledge, I silently vowed never to eat another persimmon—and to this day, I have not broken that vow.

Wild persimmon trees existed in China more than ten thousand years ago. Although numerous persimmon varieties and cultivars now grow around the world, the predominant Asian cultivar is Diospyros kaki. This variety can be further divided into two groups: the “Hachiya,” which is so astringent it’s inedible until soft-ripe, and the non-astringent “Fuyu,” which can actually be eaten like an apple while the fruit is still green and firm.

Persimmons (shi) were domesticated in China during the Qin and Han dynasties (221BC-220AD), with large-scale cultivation taking place during the Tang and Song periods (618-1279). The main production districts lie along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. In the Chinese culture, persimmons are a symbol of good luck and posterity.

Introduced to Japan in the seventh century, with cultivation beginning several centuries later, the persimmon (kaki) became so highly regarded that it was eventually named the country’s national fruit. Japanese poets have long celebrated the persimmon in their work, where it often appears as a symbol of autumn.

American persimmons (Diospyros Virginiana) are part of the Ebony family. The trees--dating back to prehistoric times--are extremely hardy and can adapt to a wide range of weather and soil related conditions. They grow to a height of twenty to sixty feet, producing glossy, leathery leaves that appear bluish-green in summer before turning brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red in the fall

In America, the word persimmon derives from the Virginia Algonquian word putchamin or pessamin, meaning “dried fruit.” The term first appeared in English in 1612 on Captain John Smith’s map of Virginia. By the mid-nineteenth century, the word was also used to refer to the Asian Diospyros kaki varieties.

Persimmon trees are dioecious, meaning the fragrant male and female flowers grow on separate trees, though there are some rare exceptions. Male flowers are pink and typically grow in clusters of three, while female flowers are creamy-white and solitary. Fruiting typically begins when the tree is about six years old and generally occurs every other year after that.

The fruit matures in late fall to early winter, ranging in color from glossy yellow-orange to deep red-orange. Most are spherical or tomato-shaped and about three inches in diameter, though size and shape vary by species.

Persimmons were important to the lives of the Cherokee, Comanche, Seminole and other Native Americans. Not only did they incorporate the ripe fruit into their diets--making cakes, breads, and puddings--but also dried it for snacks, winter storage, and trail rations. Other parts of the plant served a wide variety of uses: the leaves were steeped in hot water for a tea-like beverage; the bark was chewed for indigestion; and the astringency of green fruit was used as an antiseptic for sore throats and hemorrhoids.

And while the fruit has long been valued in the kitchen—from pies and jams to breads and puddings—the wood of the persimmon tree is equally prized. Among the hardest woods known to man, persimmon is valued by woodcarvers for its striking grain patterns. Well into the twentieth century it was also favored by golf club manufacturers for crafting high-quality wooden club heads. Today, persimmon—also known as white ebony—is used for live-edge tabletops, kitchen islands, bar tops, and other decorative woodworking projects.

When ripe, persimmons are delicious eaten fresh. They also lend themselves beautifully to pies, cakes, cookies, and quick breads. For readers more adventurous than my nine year old self, the following recipes offer a wonderful way to enjoy this remarkable fruit.

PERSIMMON SPICE COOKIES

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, unsalted, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 cup persimmon pulp
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Cream together butter and both sugars. Add egg.
2. Mix the baking soda with the pulp and add to creamed mixture.
3. Sift together dry ingredients and add to mixture. Stir in nuts and raisins.
4. Drop teaspoons of the batter on a greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.