persimmon, and winter prep (two things make a post?)

[redbird]

I have now tried persimmons (or a persimmon). It was nice but not astonishing; on the other hand, it may not have been entirely ripe. (adrian_turtle tried and like one a few days ago, so bought two at one of the Armenian groceries in Watertown.)

I may get a few, ripen them, and see what I think. (*The Joy of Cooking* confirms that persimmons are always picked unripe.) They're not hard to find, in season. I had been avoiding them out of a vague sense of resentment, I think: Persimmon season is just before clementine season, and from across the street a pile of persimmons on a sidewalk fruit stand looks like clementines, at least to someone who is eager for the latter.

This afternoon I sorted out how we'll handle snow removal here. I had hoped that we could continue whatever arrangement the previous tenants here had with the upstairs neighbor. Valerie came outside this afternoon while I was out there exercising, and I asked her about it. She's entirely happy to keep doing what we have been, and agreed to buy a bag of road salt the next time she's at Home Depot and they have it in stock, since she has a car and we don't.

The plans are for her, or possibly me, to shovel if the snow is very light (she has a snow shovel), for heavier snow to hire a high school student through the town, and if it's very heavy also pay someone with a plow to clear the driveway. The cost of hiring the plow truck is shared with the house next door, because we share a driveway. (I volunteered that cattitude and I would pay a share of that, even though we don't have a car.)

(Our lease says that we and the other apartment are jointly responsible for snow removal; the town of Belmont requires the sidewalks to be cleared, a rule I strongly approve of.

Comments

[ranunculus]

In our West Coast markets (and on my Ranch) there are two kinds of persimmons. One is rather flat and is eaten when hard or only slightly softened. The variety I see the most is Fuyu, though there are other varieties of this Asian persimmon. We also have Hachiya a pointed, so called "heart shaped" persimmon which should be eaten when very soft. There are, apparently lots of other kinds of persimmons as well (which I didn't know before writing this reply!!)

[redbird]

I think a little more research may be called for before I shop. I remember (from the poorly indexed Esteemed Journal of I Read It Somewhere) that there is a native eastern North American persimmon, eaten by pre-Columbian inhabitants and early European settlers, but displaced in orchards etc. by imported varieties.

[adrian_turtle]

I think the one I called the "lowercase persimmon" is a Fuyu. It's like the one I ate and enjoyed at my student's house, and we ate when it was not as ripe. (At least, harder in the middle and not as tasty. The one that remains on my counter is Hachiya, and I've been calling it a "capital persimmon" based on its size and shape rather than to praise it. It's still hard, so I haven't tried eating it.

I have no idea if any of the persimmons sold in stores today have anything to do with pre-Columbian American persimmons.

[ranunculus]

The Wiki article mentioned two or three native American persimmons in a very badly written article. Apparently it is not a "fruit" but a berry!!

[azurelunatic]

I like sliced persimmons in strong black tea with sugar.