Persimmons

“Eat like an apple.” So advised the sticker on each of my recently purchased Georgia-grown persimmons. I didn’t. But the comparison isn’t far off. On a spectrum of flavor, the quince and the persimmon sit to either side of the apple. The quince is dry, subtly floral, tart and even a bit astringent. The persimmon is also slightly floral, but more musky and quite moist. They do not so much ripen as they deliquesce, kind of like a fig. To eat a fruit the way one would eat an apple one has to, I think, know it well. The persimmon and I aren’t yet that well acquainted. But the fruit has made its first impressions. This past weekend I had thought to buy several and try making a persimmon pudding. But the recipes looked to be spiced like pumpkin or squash desserts and I didn’t want to feel I was using persimmons as mere stand-ins for other orange alternatives.

About the time I gave up on the pudding, we decided to have quite a few people over for some pre-trick-or-treating nibbles (our neighborhood, we only just discovered, is the epicenter of Tallahassee Halloween). I needed to pull together some savory snacks in a short amount of time. A quick search on Epicurious turned up a serendipitous recipe—persimmon salsa. The only change I made was to add a healthy pinch of salt. It was so satisfying to make a fall dish that evoked the best of summer. The weather is still fairly warm here, so one can only handle so much pumpkin bread and squash soup. The persimmon salsa felt like a fitting seasonal transition.