Persimmon

Wheww... Now that we have staved off a Palin presidency for 4 years at least we can get back to this blog's original charter... to spread mundanity throughout the land!! Has anyone out there ever eaten a Persimmon before? Has anyone ever heard of a persimmon? I first heard about them via the bluegrass song "watermelon on the vine" that speaks of 'Simmons a-growing on the tree. On a side note, here are the original (moderately racist) lyrics to that song. They have fortunately been toned down a little over the years to this. I got into bluegrass a couple years ago and this song kept coming up in compilations I bought, and I would always think to myself... what the hell is a 'simmons? Well evidently we have them in grocery stores down here (and other stores up north too, I am sure I just didn't notice them before). They look like a small perfect tomato, but are rather sweet inside. You are supposed to wait until they are ripe or just over ripe to eat them because they have an astringency that some people don't like. I found my persimmon to be delicious!
What I also like about persimmons is the element of danger! This is directly from wikipedia (so I know its accurate)
"Unripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak acid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum that can affix with other stomach matter. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy notes that consumption of persimmons has been known to cause bezoars that require surgery in over 90% of cases. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of unripened persimmons. Persimmon bezoars often occur in epidemics in regions where the fruit is grown. Horses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge also, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten with crab meat, nor should they be eaten on an empty stomach."

Damn! good thing I waited til it was ripe.. these things should come with a warning label. It was quite good though, I think I will buy some more although Rx was not as impressed as I was. My expectations were quite low though although I was pleasantly surprised. I just didn't want a bezoar... I will update you if that happens.
Priscilla was embarrassed by my love of the persimmon.