Fruit of the underworld

A lot of people associate the apple to Eve taking a bite and then stuff happened, however…

Do you know what the fruit of the underworld is? Have you tried one? A lot of people can’t get over the “texture of persimmons” and therefore do not like them. Is persimmon plural- like sheep, not sheeps? Anyhow, I love them- all the different kinds of persimmons–

There are the larger ones that are more cylindrical with the look of giant acorns (hachiya/kaki variety). You have to wait until they are extra mushy and their deep orange skin nearly see through to eat. Then there are the more horizontal, flatter kind that you can wait until their skin turns a decent orange, peel the skin and eat the inside like a crunchy apple- delicious–

Recently, I finally got some flatter looking persimmons (the fuyu variety) from a neighbor’s tree and then saw that some green ones were mushy. I pushed in and the meat inside was set to eat already! It was sooooo good- and orange. This is shockingly exciting to me. I’d never seen this in my life- green skin, yet ripe… is this a new kind that has yet to be discovered?? Someone always beats me to this these tree limbs that hang over into an alley down the street from where I live. That’s why I decided to harvest some while they’re green and wait for them to change colors…

And it’s only mid-August. Usually persimmons aren’t in season until October-November.

Here’s a little more about their mythic background:

The Latin generic name for persimmons is Diospyros, which translates as

“food of the gods” or to put it more poetically “Jove’s grain.” This is

believable when eating a ripe persimmon fruit, but the same could be said if

eating an unripe astringent fruit. These are fruits of the “underworld

gods.”

Now you want to try one, don’t you?

Below are photos I took of my neighbor’s tree that they let me raid. They told me they never eat these. This fruit is like gold to me. What a treasure.

*Word to the wise- whatever you do, never ever eat the skin of any persimmon – or else you will get that “sweaters on your teeth” feeling and taste

Preview:

I have an apple tree (a yuzu tree, a tangerine tree, and more – mini urban farm) in my yard and the fruit is already turning a bit pink- in August! Weird year…