February 18, 2009, - 6:36 pm

Stuff I Really Like: The Sharon Persimmon

By Debbie Schlussel
My favorite fruit is the persimmon, the orange-colored sweet fruit that tastes like heaven if it’s just ripe.
And, as a persimmon afficionado, I can tell you that the best-tasting persimmon there is comes from Israel’s Sharon Valley–“Emek HaSharon,” in Hebrew. You won’t taste a better persimmon, and they are in the U.S., right now. Sharon [pronounced, “Shah-Rone”] Valley persimmons are far superior in taste and other qualities to both the Hachiya and Fuyu varieties of persimmons. They’re also known as the “Sharon fruit.”
And the benefit is that they taste ripe and sweet even when they are hard. You don’t have to wait for them to soften or discolor. Sharon Valley persimmons also have no core, so you can eat the whole thing but the leaves. Persimmons are a high-fiber fruit. And they taste like candy. Very healthy and filling, and your kids will love it.

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Sharon Valley Persimmons

A study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry compared apples and persimmons. Persimmons, it was concluded, had more fiber, minerals and polyphenols and could be better for your heart than the apple.

And if you live in a relatively sized American city, chances are that you can find the Sharon Valley persimmon. We’re right smackdab in the middle of Sharon Valley persimmon season. And a ton of them have been shipped to the U.S. over the last month. Persimmons–at least where I live–used to be considered exotic, but now they’re far easier to obtain.
They’re an inexpensive, tasty, and healthy delicacy.
But the season for these fruits is a short one–it runs from December through March. Try some before they’re gone. You’ll thank me.
Read more about Sharon Valley Persimmons.
***
Here’s a great alcohol-optional Sharon Valley persimmon smoothie recipe, courtesy of Joel A. Moskowitz, MD and Arlene Moskowitz and the San Diego Jewish Press Heritage:

For this you will require 2 cups diced Sharon fruit, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup Sabra liqueur, 1 cup ice cubes and, frozen in an ice cube tray, 1/2 cup evaporated milk.
Drop the frozen evaporated milk ice cubes into a blender. Add the Sabra, yogurt, Sharon fruit, sugar and ice cubes. Blend (high) till slushy. Should take about two minutes. Pour into glasses and garnish with extra fruit.
Serves five or six.

***
I also love dried persimmons (which are largely made from California persimmons). They’re a great snack, and they used to carry these at Trader Joe’s. But as with everything I like at that store, they discontinued them (the Schlussel-Trader Joe curse). If you know of a great, inexpensive outlet for dried persimmons, please let me know.






14 Responses

Here’s a great alcohol-optional Sharon Valley persimmon smoothie recipe…Serves five or six.
Hummmm……serves one, in my book!

ob3 on February 18, 2009 at 8:50 pm

I love persimmons. I’ve been eating them all my life. Not the dried ones though. They have to be ripened just right, not hard, but soft, and yes they are very delicious.
Trader Joe’s used to be a great store. But like you say Debbie, what’s there today won’t be tomorrow. They did that with chocolate “Peanut Clusters,” of which really burned me when they just quit stocking.

Jackson Pearson on February 18, 2009 at 9:52 pm

Persimmons are delicious. They grow them all over Korea, and I would eat them a lot when I lived in Korea. However, I haven’t had any since I have come back to America. The cool thing about persimmons is you can eat them when slightly ripe or very ripe, and they are good either way.
I’ll try the Sharon Valley type.

Gabe on February 18, 2009 at 10:08 pm

I don’t know how much these persimmons cost in the Detroit/Dearbornistan area, but where I live in lower New York State, these pups are ghastly expensive – as much as two bucks apiece for a small, hard specimen. I’d rather buy the larger Japanese varieties when they’re available, which they rarely are – they, too, are expensive, but they’re much larger than the Sharon variety and, if properly ripe, have a wonderful taste and texture. The Sharon persimmons I’ve seen are always hard as a rock. Feh.
[C: WHERE I LIVE THEY ARE VERY REASONABLY PRICED. I’VE PAID ABOUT 40 CENTS TO 66 CENTS APIECE, DEPENDING, AND A BASKET OF 12 COSTS $4 OR $5, DEPENDING. ALSO, THE ONES I’VE BOUGHT HAVE RANGED FROM HARD TO SOFT TO VERY SOFT. AND THEY ALL TASTE GOOD. THAT’S THE THING ABOUT SHARON VALLEY PERSIMMONS. EVEN HARD AND UNRIPENED, THEY TASTE DELICIOUS. DS]

commonsense on February 18, 2009 at 10:17 pm

Here is some info on the Korean variety of persimmon.
http://www.clickkorea.org/Food/foodView.asp?idx=10&page=2&menubar=4
It is a beautiful tree, and in the fall, all over Korea you would see the persimmon trees with no leaves and dozens of ripe persimmons hanging off the trees. It is a typical scene around temples and Korean houses.

Gabe on February 18, 2009 at 10:56 pm

Debbie, fruits from Israel at the moment are most probably Shmittah fruit, having Kedushat Shevi’it. It is a mitzvah to eat them but there are some restrictions to abide by. Example:
http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v18/mj_v18i59.html#CTU
I’m only referring to Shmittah fruits – not to vegetables, which is a more complicated issue.
Enjoy!

Shy Guy on February 19, 2009 at 4:53 am

Put a picture of some Sclussel persimmon up there and betcha you’ll get a million hits…as well as lots of offers to eat it:)

EminemsRevenge on February 19, 2009 at 8:19 am

Can you please explain what Shmittah and Kedushat
shevi’it mean? I am not familiar with those words. Thank you!

meweade on February 19, 2009 at 9:03 am

nutsonline.com is a dependable site with fair prices and excellent products. They can fulfill your dried Persimmon needs. I order my Goji berries from them and am never disappointed.

skater4fun on February 19, 2009 at 1:49 pm

Hmm, I’ve seen these before at my local Hiller’s Market, but didn’t know what they were! “Honey, what are these funny things that look sorta like tomatoes?”
Now we’ll give them a try, thanks!
Michelle

mplumb on February 19, 2009 at 5:15 pm

Way too sweet for my taste. After the first two of those Fuyu I tried, I went back to Hachiya persimmons for good.

yonason on February 19, 2009 at 11:32 pm

“”Sharon Fruit” (named originally after Sharon plain in Israel) is the trade name for D. kaki fruit that has been artificially ripened with chemicals.[5]”

……..source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon

Please check it out, if it is wrong correct it

Francis T Rozario on December 21, 2010 at 7:55 pm

What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable familiarity on
the topic of unexpected emotions.

home buying on April 20, 2014 at 7:05 pm

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