Persimmons | Tomatoes' Twin?

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A few days ago, I welcomed the latest little addition to my fruit bowl family. At first, I thought my mom had picked up some tomatoes and left them out to ripen, until she told me that these yellowy-orange things were actually persimmons!

I'd never had a persimmon before and because it quite resembles a tomato, I was expecting it to maybe just be a sweetened form of the famous fruit (yes tomatoes are fruits...) BUT IT'S NOT! Persimmons taste nothing like tomatoes, even though their deceptive appearance may have you thinking otherwise.

Because I found this exotic fruit to be quite interesting (and rather delicious), I thought it would be the perfect sort of thing to share with you all! :) 

So the persimmons my mom picked up didn't need very much time to ripen, they were basically ready to be eaten when she bought them, but we did let them sit for about 2 days on the kitchen counter. In doing my research, I found that there are different varieties of this fruit- mainly the hachiya persimmon & the fuyu persimmon. Based on the texture and shape of the ones I had, I think it's safe to say I tried those belonging to the fuyu family. 

From what I've read, I think one of the big differences between the two varieties is the hachiya persimmon has to be fully ripe before consumption, otherwise it will be rather tart, but the fuyu persimmon can still be eaten when barely ripe. 

Seeing that I've seemingly only tried fuyu persimmons, it makes sense that the thick walled fruit was a bit firm, with the skin having a rather delightful crispness to it- the skin is perfectly edible, but of course optional when it comes to consumption. The flesh of the fruit, in my opinion, was the perfect marriage between the texture of a lychee and a peach (if you can imagine that). I grew up eating a fruit called caimite and I found the persimmon to be very similar in texture and flavour. Both share a similar note of sweetness, but depending on the level of ripeness, I think the persimmon is the sweeter of the two. 

The ones I tried did not contain any seeds (not sure if they're all seedless), so that was a little added bonus in my book. And though squat in shape, these little guys have many health benefits linked to them! 

I think it's safe to say I'm now a fan of persimmons, even though I may not have known they existed a week ago. Having now tried them, I think the fuyu kind would perhaps add a nice sweetness to a salad if I were in the mood to spice up a bland lunch. Or you can just keep things simple by snacking on them like you would an apple (maybe slice/dice it to avoid any mess). But nonetheless, if you happen to come across these tomato-lookalikes, be sure to give them a try! They might pleasantly surprise you. :)

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