I realized I had never eaten a persimmon before, so I bought a couple of likely-looking ones from our local orchardist. I bought one of each kind: the squat, oblate type and the heart-shaped type. I read that the latter ought to be really soft and ripe before you attempt to eat it, so I took care to buy a ripe one.
I heard that you can eat the oblate ones while they’re still rather firm, biting into them like an apple. So I bit into one: meh. Then I tried the soft ripe heart-shaped one: meh.
These fruits have only one flavor, which is vaguely sweet. They have no acidity, no fragrance, no “gaminess”, no nothing really. Then I remembered that I DID try persimmons once, decades ago, and came to the same conclusion. But they were so forgettable that I, uh, forgot all about it.
Well, that satisfied my curiosity. After a summer of strawberries, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and figs, persimmons were a big letdown. But you have to admit they’re very pretty in the tree, looking like orange Christmas decorations.
I’ll disagree in general, but I do agree they have a very mild, non-acidic flavor. Dragonfruit is flavorless (to me), persimmons definitely are not. I don’t like Hachiya persimmons all that much as a fruit just because of the gooey texture. But a crisp(ish) Fuyu persimmon makes for a nice change from an apple and I rather like that mild flavor - I’ve certainly tasted apples that were way worse. I mean any Fuyu I’ve ever tried is better than any of those Red Delicious apples I had to eat as a kid.
But yeah, mildly flavored and not for everyone. I eat more apples than persimmons but I like to mix a few in when they’re in season.
The hard persimmons are relatively mild but they can have a subtle spiciness like cinammon or nutmeg.
That said, I wouldn’t recommend eating one fresh. The flat variety are best used to bake. That reduces the water content (strengthening the flavor) and the baking caramelizes and activates the flavor a bit. Raw is meh. Baked is good.
The acorn-shaped ones do have a fairly plain sweetness when you get them properly gooey, and I could understand finding that unsatisfying. Given that they can also numb your tongue, if not quite ripe enough, I’m personally fairly ambivalent about them as I don’t like that sensation and the texture isn’t too appetizing to me.
But anywhere that you might bake a pear or an apple, a flat persimmon would be a perfectly good stand-in with its own flavor profile. I get them for the seasonal variation from the rest of the year, but I grant that I haven’t checked what the price difference is compared to the other fruit.
Spicy is not enough of a word to describe it. Paint thinner would be more appropriate. IMO.
The grand kids like to pick up the dropped persimmons and taste for the tongue numb. For S&Gs.
Other than that we’ve never got much use from the tree. It is funny to watch deer eating fruit of that and the fig tree(neighbors). The deer have obvious reaction if they get a sour persimmon over a very sweet fig.
They like the figs because they get drunk on them. It’s a hoot to watch.
The common dragonfruit with red skin and white flesh (Selenicereus undatus) is not good. The less common yellow with white flesh (Selenicereus megalanthus) is much better. Or red and red/purple (Selenicereus costaricensis) maybe though I’m not sure if I’ve had a fresh one.
Persimmons similarly have a common astringent one that’s not a preferable as the rarer ones. And mangoes: the common Tommy Atkins made me think I didn’t like mango, Ataulfo or Alphonso are better if you find them.
Unripe persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak acid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum, a “foodball” or phytobezoar, that can affix with other stomach matter.[35] These phytobezoars are often very hard and almost woody in consistency. More than 85% of phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of unripened persimmons.[36] Persimmon bezoars (diospyrobezoars) often occur in epidemics in regions where the fruit is grown.[37][38]
polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum, a “foodball” or phytobezoar, that can affix with other stomach matter.[35]These phytobezoars are often very hard and almost woody in consistency.
There’s a pleasant thought. Eat an unripe persimmon and you may cause the formation of a hard lump in your stomach. I recognize the “-bezoar” part of “phytobezoar” from my reading. The bezoar stone used to be prized as a universal antidote. Untrue, of course.
Bleh! Not that I’d eat unripe persimmons. Yes, not a boring factoid.
All the persimmon trees in local orchards and in people’s front yards are bedecked with fruit, and they’re so pretty. All those bright orange globes on nearly leafless branches are very decorative.
