The countryside in autumn oltrato is very sad, the trees are leafless , the land plowed without veg are still missing and etazione the blinding whiteness of the snow . The only color comes from its persimmon trees and pomegranates, which seem to countless Christmas trees decorated with red or yellow balls.
Although persimmon and pomegranate not belong to the same botanical family, they share one common feature: the astringency. All we have done at least once in a lifetime experience of the unpleasant bite a persimmon is not yet mature (allappante ") or inadvertently chewing a piece of pomegranate peel: we found out mouth and teeth" associated ". This phenomenon is due to tannins, polyphenolic compounds that have the ability to precipitate salivary proteins (the mucin). During the maturation or the mezzanine level of persimmons, however, are the fruit of the same protein to precipitate the tannins, turning them into those little points that blacks are often in the pulp of the fruit: Then the result is not astringent.
The persimmon (kaki, or also known as lotus or diospiro) is originally from China, Korea and Japan. It 's a subtropical species, but with appropriate rootstock can be grown in cold regions, such as the Trentino.
The only reliable criteria to determine if a persimmon is ready to eat are the smell, texture and shades of skin color. The criterion of softness, however, is not always reliable.
persimmon varieties are divided into:
- astringent variety, which after reaching physiological maturity must wait a little longer 'so that the precipitation of tannins: Pharmacist Honor (also known as kaki Misilmeri) Cost, Rojo brilliant, Muscat, Hachiya, Fenn, Light Bulb, Kawabata, Sharon (also known as Triumph) ...
- variety not astringent, which can be eaten immediately to physiological maturity: Fuyu, Jiro, Gosho, Suruga ...
- variety variables, if the seeds have the flesh is dark and non-astringent, if you do not have the seeds and the pulp is light, astringent: Lotus Romagna (also called Kaki-type), Chocolate, Vanilla (also called persimmon-apple), Mercatelli, Brazzale, Castellani, Mandarin ...
- variety variables, if the seeds have the flesh is dark and non-astringent, if you do not have the seeds and the pulp is light, astringent: Lotus Romagna (also called Kaki-type), Chocolate, Vanilla (also called persimmon-apple), Mercatelli, Brazzale, Castellani, Mandarin ...
At the industry level, in order to remove the astringency, different procedures are used: 1) immersion in hot water 2) perfusion with ethanol 3) modified atmosphere with the addition of ethylene 4) controlled atmosphere with a high rate of carbon dioxide is clear that the first two cases are not acceptable in terms of a natural and instinctive, because changing the nutritional and organoleptic properties of the fruit.
A household level, however, I recommend the persimmons ripen immature at low temperature (4 ° C): the mezzanine level will be slower, but the texture will be better and prevents the fruit rot. To make the aging more consistent, you can put next to other persimmon fruits that give off ethylene, such as apples. The ripe persimmons, however, should be stored at a temperature lower than 1 ° C, making sure that does not fall below zero, for example during the night frost.
At the same botanical genus of the common persimmon, also belong to other species that produce fruits worthy of attention:
- wild persimmons, smaller and more concentrated, are of different varieties, including those of ' St Andrew's tree, used as rootstock for persimmon plus common.
- the black sapote , a native of Central America, but can be successfully cultivated in Sicily. The fruit has the same form of a persimmon, but the skin is green and the flesh is black (see photo). The taste and texture of black sapote remember much chocolate mousse. Unlike the shit, its maturation must be warm (21 ° C) and when mature should be stored at 13 ° C.
- the mabolo, a native of the Philippines, unlike the black sapote has strictly tropical needs. The taste of mabolo is very distinctive and aromatic, but the import is made very difficult by the fact that the fruit must be harvested already mature, and so it is very fragile.
should also remember that some species of Diospyros are used for non-food purposes: some provide the ebony black, one of the best wood, and unfortunately in danger of extinction because of overfishing, from other varieties, however, the tannin is extracted, used for tanning hides.
Pomegranate (also called pomegranate) is native to the Caucasus, Iran and Afghanistan. When we think of the pomegranate, the tree comes to mind that we have in the garden, with beautiful bright red flowers, and fruit acids, so that I could not eat more than a few grains. Well you know that it is the ornamental variety, while the variety of food has no acidity and sweet, but can be grown are subtropical climate. In Europe, the sweet variety is grown mainly in Spain in Granada (whose name derives from the fruit) and especially in the area of \u200b\u200bElche. In Italy the cultivation of sweet pomegranate are very few, almost all in Sardinia and Sicily. In the store I found in my home sweet pomegranates imported from Tunisia.
There are many varieties of sweet pomegranates, different in shape, color, flavor and harvest time (which can range from August to December): the most common variety Spain is in the spring, while the most common in Italy is the tooth of a horse.
Pomegranates should be collected at full maturity (when the beans are purchased within the optimum sweetness), but in any event before the rains make the fruits split, because otherwise go bad very quickly, just like also figs. Once collected, if the skin is intact can be stored for several months (even up to March) at 10 ° C, in a place without temperature extremes. If the fruits are reported of cracks or dents, you have to eat them as soon as possible and stored at 5 ° C.
How do you eat a pomegranate? Take a clean dish (to collect the beans that inevitably will fall), do not cut the whole fruit because much juice is wasted instead sunk the knife in just half a centimeter of skin, making two incisions at the Cross along the diameter of the fruit, through the petiole and the tip, cutting the rind into four equal segments, then you force only with your hands to break the pomegranate into halves, then take each half and divide it into two segments: so you do not waste a single drop juice (see photo).
When you go to buy pomegranates, know that there is no way to recognize a pomegranate from the outside from a variety of sour pomegranate varieties of sweet you are obliged to open it, so do not be discouraged if you do buy a few empty.
That's all folks!