For the love of Persimmons

Late autumn and early winter are the season for the persimmon - with their bright glossy skin and incredible autumnal foliage they are an attractive fruit both on the tree and in the bowl. In New Zealand we export most of our persimmon to the Australia, Japan and the South-East Asia market.

Persimmon can be split in to two rough categories: the astringent, cheek-puckering varieties or the hybridised sweet ones that now dominate production.The astringent variety are often found on old mature trees in old gardens - while the hybridised version are the ones found in the supermarket. Astringent ones are good to eat - but they must be fully ripe. Meanwhile the hybridised version are delicious even when a little crunchy.

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There was a period in my life when I used to demonstrate seasonal produce at the Feilding Farmers Market. People were always interested to see how to use the bright orange fruit of the persimmon. I would wander round the market gathering up local vegetables and then create a quick stir fry over my slightly unreliable gas element. This quick recipe is a favourite:
Cook a steak over a high heat and leave to rest. Meanwhile toss sliced onion, peeled and sliced celery, and a handful of sliced green beans in a couple of table spoons of canola oil. Add thin segments of non astringent sliced persimmon. Toss in a tablespoon fish sauce and a good slug sweet chilli sauce. Cook quickly until beans are crisp tender. Slice rested beef on a diagonal, add to vegetables. Toss well together, serve on a warm platter and garnish generously with chopped coriander or mint.

Note - Astringent persimmons, when fully ripe, can be frozen whole and served as an individual sorbet

Smoked Chicken and Persimmon Salad

Serve this this bright cheerful salad for Mother’s Day. Non astringent Persimmons are delicious served in salads, both for their colour and texture.....these are the persimmons we buy in the Supermarket. The old fashioned astringent persimmon is a different beast and must be eaten when absolutely ripe and very soft.

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 smoked breast of chicken

• 2 ripe non astringent persimmons, cut in thin segments, discarding stone if present

• Packet green beans, cooked till crisp tender, well drained

• 2 stalks celery, peeled and sliced on a thin diagonal

• About 5 radishes, thinly sliced

• 1 red pepper , thinly sliced

• 3 -4 spring onions, sliced on a diagonal

• Handful local walnuts
  Rocket

• Handful fresh coriander or about 6 -8 sprigs mint

Dressing Ingredients:

• 3 tabsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tabsp lemon or lime juice

• 1 tsp honey

• New Zealand sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

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Method:

1. Discard skin from the chicken and slice diagonally across the grain.

2. Gently combine/layer ingredients apart from coriander.

3. Combine dressing ingredients and taste.

4. Place salad ingredients on a large platter and drizzle over dressing.

5. Garnish with roughly chopped coriander and serve .

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Autumn Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 non astringent persimmons

• 2 oranges

• 2 easy peel. Mandarins

• 2 gold kiwi fruit

• 3 red kiwi fruit

• Tbsp lightly toasted pistachio nuts

• 2-3 Tbsp passion fruit syrup

Method:

1. Cut persimmons in half and then cut in then wedges. Sometimes the fruit have a stone and sometimes not!

2. Peel oranges and remove segments leaving membrane behind (like the leaves of a book)

3. Peel mandarins and segment

4. Peel kiwi fruit, remove hard core from the stalk end. Slice neatly into rounds

5. Lightly toast pistachio nuts

6. Layer ingredients into a low sided bowl and drizzle with passionfruit syrup.

7. Sprinkle with pistachio nuts
   

   .....a couple of tablespoons of apricot jam, let down with a little water and heated is a useful substitute for the passionfruit syrup
   Accompany autumn fruit salad with a crisp biscuit .... ie thinly sliced shortbread flavoured with orange rind

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Photography by Pippa Marffy