Why are persimmons bitter

This separates the creamy pulp from the flat, hard brown seeds. Most persimmon pudding recipes call for one cup of pulp. This is not breaking news that wild persimmons are delicious table fare. Share 1. Tweet 0. Share 0. Dennis Chastain. Read More. The not-quite-sweet type of persimmons are not seen a lot on the market since fruit from the same tree may be sweet or bitter, but homegrown fruit may be of this type.

The ethylene gas emitted by the apple will help to ripen the persimmons faster. Wash and carefully dry the fruit, dot the calyxes with alcohol-soaked cotton swabs, and seal the fruit in a plastic bag. Keep in a cool, dark place for one to two weeks until the fruit are sweet. My favorite way to eat fully ripe bitter-type persimmons is to freeze them — they turn into a delicious persimmon sorbet. The sweet type of persimmons are much more useful in the kitchen, however. They are fully ripe when they yield slightly to pressure.

A traditional recipe that uses persimmons is namasu , where finely shredded daikon radish and persimmon are combined and flavored with a sweet vinegar sauce. I like to use them in nontraditional recipes too, especially salads. The ideal persimmons to use in salads should still be firm enough to cut up easily. Serves 2 to 4. The textures of persimmon and avocado go really well together. Try using yuzu instead of the lemon, too. Peel, de-pit and cut the avocado into bite-size cubes. I still feel guilty about doing that, and have vowed never to play a trick on a student again.

Well, not that trick anyway. Persimmon, Diospyros virginianais, a common tree from New England into the Midwest, and south through all of Florida, and over to Texas. It is usually a small, or "medium" sized tree, although one of the largest in the world is over ' tall, right here in central South Carolina. Its bark is rough and checkered, broken into dark, scaly blocks, much like what you see on a dogwood tree.

The leaves, " long, are deep green in the summer somewhat chalky on the lower side and they turn a brilliant yellow or orange-red in the fall.

Interestingly, wherever a leaf has been chewed on, by a bug or something, or otherwise wounded, the tissue right around the wound turns black.

The trees are either male or female, bearing unisexual flowers. The wood of this species is dark, hard and very durable. In fact, during the era of King Cotton, this tree was an important source of loom shuttles in mills. You can just imagine the dust, whacking and clattering that went on all day. This species is entirely confined to North America, but it has about close relatives, in the same genus, in Africa and Indonesia, some of which are prized for their fruits which are often available in markets.

One other native American species grows in central Texas. All of these species are members of the ebony family — and it is the true ebony tree, whose dark, hard wood has historically been the source for piano keys.