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| Persimmon drawing Dec. 14, 2016 |
Yesterday I
tasted for the first time the luscious autumn fruit, the persimmon, Diospyros kaki, that is the Japanese
persimmon. Leslie gave it to me as we
walked around the Bronx Zoo with Aya and Jim. I stared at a peacock under an
oak tree and ate my persimmon. It was the
fuyu persimmon or non-astringent type, which means that it has less tannin and
can be eaten fresh. It is like a squat, sun-colored tomato and can be eaten like a ripe tomato or apple. It is even a little crunchy unless the one
you get is soft and very ripe; mine still had its crunch. It can also be cut into smaller chunks and
put in salads and or cooked. Persimmons
originally came from China and the tree spread into Korea and Japan, and made
it to the United States in 1856 via Japan and Commodore Perry.
Some
persimmon trees are dioecious, which means they have separate male and female
trees. There are also some monoecious
ones, which means that the male and female flowers grow on the same tree. The female flowers are cream-colored and the
male flowers are pink.
Persimmons
are supposed to be healthy fruits that have lots of Vitamins C, A. E, and
B6. Sounds a bit like the New York
subway system. They are said to be good
for the eyes, protect against breast and prostate cancer, and boost the ability
to fight free radicals. For such little
fruits, they pack quite a punch and they taste good too. So here’s my take on persimmons and on other
fruits and vegetables one may not know--try them. Give them a chance. There’s a real possibility you will find
something that will actually make your life a little brighter and tastier if
you are willing to take a risk.
Excerpt from “Persimmons”
by Li-Young Lee
My mother
said every persimmon has a sun
inside,
something golden, glowing,
warm as my
face.
Once, in the
cellar, I found two wrapped in newspaper,
forgotten and
not yet ripe.
I took them
and set both on my bedroom windowsill,
Where each
morning a cardinal
sang, The sun, the sun.
sang, The sun, the sun.
