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Friday, June 11, 2010

The (non) humble Persimmon

Something went wrong with our internet connection early this morning, and I couldn't post it. So here it is...
...
Persimmons are an odd sort of fruit.
Mum bought some today - seconds, because they're cheaper than the elitist ones without spot or blemish. We ate a couple this evening.. they're reddy-orange in colour and have a shine that makes them look like they've been varnished.

The calix is a green flower where the stem's been cut; it's dried and papery but an interesting contrast to the smooth orange skin. They tasted good. The texture's why I called it 'odd' - when you're eating a piece of persimmon it has all these different textures within the one piece.
A standard apple isn't like that. You get rid of the icky core and you've got evenly textured apple-flesh which you (vampirishly) bite into. The persimmon's a completely different animal.
Upgrading from eating common fruits like apples and kiwifruit to trying to appreciate a persimmon requires serious concentration.
Here's the anatomy of the fruit:
Check out those concentric circles. You can feel those circles when you eat a persimmon. Promise.
This fruit belongs to the Ebony tree family, of the genus Diospyros. Before you fall asleep, that word Diospyros means "the fruit of the gods" in Ancient Greek. The humble persimmon was the fruit that scholastics have argued was the 'lotus' which nearly made Ulysses' crew want to stay on an island (I don't know which one) and eat the fruit for the rest of their lives, in the joyous company of the Lotus-Eaters. I certainly doubt that the Persimmon was the fruit of that mythical tale: the fruit doesn't deserve an adjective beyond 'nice'.

One must be cautious when choosing persimmons to buy: Unripe persimmons contain inedible, astringent tannins, and overripe persimmons taste like sweetened, cooked mush. One should judge carefully: the fruit must be firm yet yield slightly to pressure; if you buy rock-hard ones they mightn't be unripe, but most likely you won't get to eat them at the proper time. Persimmons appear to be temperamental (like women) - one moment they're hard as nails, the next moment they're destined for the compost.
Persimmons are also aesthetically pleasing.


- Lydie

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You seem to have some small gripe with woman and some idea of femininity.

9:31 pm  
Blogger Lydie said...

I try to be realistic.

12:09 am  

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