“Why did they bring me rotten tomatoes?” I wondered last fall, grabbing the squishy rounds out of my CSA bushel. Indignant, I threw them away. Then the next week, like the proverbial cat, they were back. Only then did I ask a gardener friend what was up.
“Those are persimmons,” she explained. “They’re, like, a fruit.”
Oh. The only persimmon I knew was my uncle’s orange cat, but once I tasted their tangy sweetness, I was hooked. Since last year, I’ve eaten persimmons in cookie, bread, pudding, and even salad form, and now their appearance at the grocery store is one of my favorite things about fall and winter.
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