Persimmon Pursuit

This time of year, you notice the trees, their branches sagging from the weight of oblong, orange fruit. Persimmons can either be one of the most sumptuous and sweetest fruits you’ve ever tasted or a colossal disaster in your mouth. It all depends on timing. Taste a sliver of persimmon when it’s still hard, or even semi-soft, and it overpowers your mouth with a blast of astringency and bitterness that takes minutes to fade. But if you wait until the fruit is overripe, almost to an unappealing degree, voila!, its secrets are revealed.

We grow two varieties of persimmons in Louisiana including the more forgiving Fuyu, which you can generally eat without incident, and the pucker-producing Hachiya described above and shown here. Once it’s ripe enough to eat, a Hachiya persimmon can often get too soft to munch, but it makes a great addition to baked goods. It’s especially good in quick breads and cakes, but my favorite application is in homemade pancakes or waffles. Sweet, softened persimmon flesh blends beautifully into batter. Serve the finished products with compound butter in which you’ve combined persimmon puree and several dashes of cinnamon. Don’t forget to warm the maple syrup.