persimmons, perchance?

Persimmons, referred to by the Greeks as "the fruit of the gods", are a weird fruit. We came across some "fuyu" variety the other day, and one of our California fruit smugglers offered to hook us up with a bunch. Ripe persimmons have a soft, tomato-like texture with a fragrant flesh similar to a papaya or apricot. We are not huge papaya fans (unless we're picking them fresh on a tropical island), but persimmons are alluring despite their texture. We wanted to experiment with jamming them, so we mixed them with some fresh squeezed orange juice, zest and blossom extract. It tastes.... interesting.

The lotus eaters in the Odyssey were apparently eating persimmons, "so delicious that those who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the lotus-eaters." We'll let you know what our jam taste-testers (i.e., "lotus eaters") think  when they give their vote at the jam session this weekend.