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Friday, December 16, 2011

Our Persimmon Tree

 

       

As some of you will already know we have our very own Persimmon tree just outside the kitchen which provides shade on our terrace during the summer. During the summer the fruit is hard and looks very similar to a large green apple, not good when they drop off as part of the natural process, narrowly missing those seeking shade by sitting under the tree! The fruit gradually softens and changes colour from pale orange through to an almost tomato red orange colour. The redder they are the softer they are and you need to pick them and eat them at this stage as they do not seem to store for long. The done thing is to pick and enjoy for pranzo, lunch or cena, supper straight from the tree. Despite losing what seemed like hundreds during the ripening process it is still covered in what are now Orange Balls, just like Christmas Decorations.  The art is in picking them before they drop on the terrace or a passing person if you are unlucky, by now a rather messy process. We have had some near misses but no direct strikes yet!

As you drive around the area you see lots of these trees now bare of leaves adding a Christmas feel to the landscape.

We know our neighbours enjoy the fruit and eat them regularly at this time of the year but wonder how many of those free Christmas Decorations are left on the trees as like us Italians generally find they are a fruit which is of very acquired taste, not something everyone enjoys by any means. Meanwhile the birds enjoy the fruit and we appreciate its attractiveness!

Parts of this post may seem familiar to readers who have been with me for over a year, but I have written about the Persimmon again as I really wanted to share an amazing recipe for using this fruit with you all.

Last year we asked for ideas of how to use our surplus Persimmon fruits and this is what was suggested to us by Heiko from Path to Self Sufficiency

 

 I will reproduce the recipe here but if you want to read the original post on Heiko’s blog  Path to Self Sufficiency from 2007 you can do so here

It really is very easy - 1 kg of persimmon, peeled and chopped, add 350g brown sugar, 250 ml white wine vinegar, 2 tsp of dried ginger and 2 bay leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45-60 minutes until cooked to a pulp that is thick and jam-like. Pot up in hot jars, seal and store.

You may also know this fruit as kaki or sharon fruit, but whatever you call it, if you can get hold of some do try this recipe sometime. It works and really does taste like Mango Chutney!

Another recent post about Persimmon this time from a blog I enjoy reading about Life in Japan Life in Kawagoe

Persimmon Photos.

 

Early summer green and hard, looking like apples.

Below is how the fruit changes colour during the late summer.

November shows the Persimmon tree in all its Autumn glory.

By mid November the leaves are dropping

Finally our very own Christmas Persimmon Tree

Copyright All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection

The photos are all my own except the chutney picture which is courtesy of Heiko but I will admit that some of them are from last year including this magnificent Christmas Persimmon Tree. This year we have removed lots to make our Persimmon Mango Chutney.

If you are interested in viewing more  of my Persimmon photos there are plenty in the Flickr albums Persimmon Year  and Persimmon 2011

Have a lovely weekend end everyone, the last one before Christmas, so hope you are by now well organised!

35 comments:

  1. oh my gosh they look beautiful, the bare tree with just these hanging does look like christmas balls!
    I have never eaten one, we have a huge Italian population here in our small city.thirty percent of the people here are I talian, we have Italian speaking doctors and dentist for them its a huge influence on our city, for the better.
    The grocery stores here sell these by the case right now, as well as olives and figs, I'm going to buy some today.Thankyou for sharing this,

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  2. Interesting recipe and a good way to use them. Great to see how they change in color! Have a good weekend!

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  3. Thanks for the recipe! Actually I have a crate full of persimmons in my cellar and I was wondering what to do with them. Can I use ripe ones?

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  4. Thank you for linking my post. :)
    You also have nice "kaki". I didn't imagine the taste is similar to mango. It's so sweet.

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  6. Let me try again, this time proofreading what I say. They look great Linda; I never tasted one of these until last year at my cousin's house in Milan. He also has a tree. It was sweeter than I expected and tasty.

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  7. How funny (maybe not!) that you have to watch yourself around this tree! Love it when it's just the fruit left on the it!

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  8. I love that "us Italians"!!!!
    I ate one of mine just a couple of evenings ago and I had a very strange feeling in my mouth, probably it had still to ripen.
    My dad picked them all last month and store them in crates in a cool place
    Michela x

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  9. That is just great and I am inspired. I am now thinking hard about where to plant a few of these to get some winter points of interest. It's so useful to see that series of photographs because I don't see that sort of information elsewhere.

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  10. I read the other day that they were very good for warding off heart disease. I love my tree which is over a hundred years old but I just can't make myself like the texture. ,

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  11. Wow, that makes a great living Christmas tree! Woth it for that and feeding the birds and the summer shade even without the recipe, which does sound good. I'd be careful about sitting under it, for sure.

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  12. It's so awesome that you have all these beautiful trees providing fruits. I will still pick the Kiwi over the Persimmon I'm afraid. Kiwi's are the best tasting to me. Thanks for the great pics. Can't imagine how beautiful it must look in person.

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  13. I'm so glad to be able to check in to your beautiful blog to reignite my memories of our magical time living in Italy!
    Kiwis and Persimmons....they all look wonderful! The chutney recipe looks fantastic, too!!
    I would LOVE to decorate with fresh persimmons! One of the things I miss most about Lago Patria was our garden with the orange and lemon trees! I love to see your garden updates!!!!
    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU,
    Lana

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  14. I still don't get persimmons. They're like funny tomatoes to me, but the wife loves them!

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  15. Beautiful! I've never eaten a persimmon, and I found your information quite interesting.

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  16. I love persimmons...I think I've told you that before! My oldest son was trying to gather all the recipes he could for persimmons one time when he had some trees in his yard. I can just imagine that leathery outside and sweet inside...with seeds! Yummy! ♥

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  17. How interesting it was to read about persimmons. I don't think I've ever tasted one. And I love that picture of it in the winter time.

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  18. So interesting. I'm sure that I knew nothing of persimmon trees until just now. It's wonderful how much produce you are able to grow right in your own yard. It's a beautiful Christmasy sort of tree and now when I see one on a card or something, I'll recognize it!

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  19. We love persimmons at our house! My girls like to slice them up, sprinkle cinnamon on top, and eat them fresh, but I'll have to try your recipe. It sounds delicious. And your photos are lovely! Persimmon trees are such festive winter favorites!

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  20. I ate them for the first time years ago when my husband bought a few for me on a market with lots of Italians here in Brussels, I had never seen this fruit in my whole life. Today of course you find them in all supermarkets. But with you I learned how they grow ! I like them very much.

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  21. Your beautiful photo's always lift me on a very grey snowy day here in Wales!
    Blessings,
    Annx

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  22. Lovely photos! I just love how you share the wonders of your plentiful garden all year round. You are very lucky to have that - thank you for sharing with us!

    Wishing you the best for the coming Christmas holiday!

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  23. Fantastic post. I have read many articles but such type of innovative information found no where. This is fabulous

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  24. I would enjoy trying persimmons I think and perhaps i'll look for them next time we go shopping at the Italian Center - an hour and a half away...the marmalade would be a lovely Christmas morning treat. Have a lovely Christmas season!

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  25. Delicious photos cakis price range and the colors are exquisite.

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  26. I love Persimmons. In our Italian dialect, we called them "Kakis" pronounced kakees. How wonderful that you have a tree so close to your home. Enjoy your bounty

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  27. Persimmons grew prolifically where I lived in California, but I'd never seen them before then. Such beautiful fruit - perfect for painting still lifes, I think. :-)

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  28. The tree looks beautiful! We used to call the fruit KAKI, but in UK it's Sharon Fruit! I didn't really like eating it, as it was always a bit of a messy process. What is interesting are the kind of flat, elongated seeds: if you open them up, inside you will find a kind of an almondy "bit" in the shape of a perfect white knife, fork, or spoon!

    CIAO!

    ANNA
    x

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  29. What a fascinating post and so informative! Your persimmon tree is beautiful and so Christmasy with the gorgeous colours! I love the photo of the tree in the background, behind the tall grasses. Stunning! And right outside your house :)

    Have a lovely Christmas, you and your family X

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  30. As I said before..always a fun visit. Never ate a persimmon and not sure I have seen on. Looks like a beautiful tree and full of fruit. It is great to find a recipe to use this wonderful fruit..I bet it is loaded with vitamins..
    Have a wonderful Christmas..sending love and blessings to you and your family..xoCarolyn

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  31. As you say an acquired taste, we can never understand all the fus but many of our Italian friends love kaki and this year we gave away two large boxes. Having said that I do like to see the fruit on the bare tree and making chutney sounds like a good idea, of maybe next year I'll be keeping mine.

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  32. Persimons are very popular in Brazil, here we rarely see them. I had never seen a persimon tree before and it's funny to see it full of fruits but no leaves!!!
    All of your photos are pretty, Lindy, but that night shot with blue sky and white plant is very beautiful!

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  33. I love how beautiful they look on the tree, and with perfect timing for the holidays. I can't eat them however as they make my mouth numb. I know there are two kinds and people have said I'm eating the skin (I'm not) or they weren't completely ripe (they were) and so since I hate the mouth-feel, I've sworn them off. They are probably the only fruit I can't/won't eat :( Love how they look on the tree though!

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  34. I was in Bologna last week. I wonder why many Italians didn't harvest their kakis. They just let them rot on the trees.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. You are right it is a shame that many Italians let their Persimmon rot on the trees. However they do make it look festive with the orange balls on the bare trees.

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