PERSIMMONS

Welp...it has definitely been a very BUSY few weeks for me with the Thanksgiving holiday.
  However, after a little over a month after the initial purchase, my family was able participate in the tasting of the ripened fruit known as the PERSIMMON.
  I will describe the experience to the best of my abilities. As mentioned in a previous post, the persimmon started to turn a deep crimson, orange as it ripened. At the time of our tasting, the skin was actually loosened from the flesh, like the skin on a boiled potato. Once I cut slices out, the flesh resembled that of pumpkin without the strings. Also, very similar to a beet. The minimal amounts of juice were VERY sticky to the touch.
   Considering the size of the tiny fruit, there was not much to share amongst four people...not to say that we wanted seconds after the first bite. The fruit was slightly sweet like a juiceless peach/nectarine. It was like eating honeysuckle fresh from the vine with that small hint of sweet honey flavor. The off-putting part of a persimmon is the texture on the pallet of the mouth. With flesh like a beet, you would think a thin slice would go down easy...NO! It was a VERY GRITTY texture in close comparison to licking/eating a raw/uncleaned RUSSET POTATO (I know you have experienced that failure as a child...or adult). There was no way getting around that AWFUL texture. It literally made us run to the sink or trash can to rid ourselves of the horrid taste.
  Overall, I can understand why this fruit called the persimmon is mainly used in marmalades since it does have medicinal qualities and it has a sweet taste. However, I DO NOT believe I could endure eating it in a pie unless cooking it somehow breaks down the texture.  But as a side note...for a fruit that I barely heard of outside of a street or old lady's name, I have stumbled upon this "rare" fruit a lot in the last few weeks. Also, OPRAH used them in her centerpiece for her Thanksgiving table where they were more inviting to view in vases than on my plate.