The ‘Chocolate’ persimmons, probably my favorite variety, are just beginning to ripen. They are astringent, meaning they have to be fully ripe and somewhat soft before they are edible, but they do not need to be nearly as soft as the more famous astringent variety, ‘Hachiya.’
They have brown flesh (hence the name) and a very rich, sweet flavor.
The tree is on the slope above the driveway, with the house visible in the photo below and the opposite wall of Moosa Canyon beyond. Seven of the ten or so fruits this tree has produced this year were borne on this one branch. I have never seen anything quite like this before. If I had not tied this branch up to a higher and stronger branch (note green wire), it surely would have split before the fruit could have ripened.
I have eaten a few Black Sapotes nicknamed the chocolate pudding fruit and am amazed at the flavour that you can get from them.
If you mix them with some coconut and freeze them they make a fantastic iceblock.
It looks like you got a fantastic crop there
Seed planted by Correy — 01 December 2007 @ 02:48
Ah, yes, the black sapote, which is not actually a sapote but is a subtropical persimmon (Dispyros digyna), and is often known as the Chocolate Pudding Tree. The ‘Chocolate’ persimmon, on the other hand, is a regular Asian deciduous persimmon (D. kaki).
I had the black sapote in Carlsbad by the Sea, and while it grew a bit and fruited once, it also died back almost every year despite the very limited frost or cold temps (never below 35 while we lived there and seldom below 38).
I would say it was quite a stretch to call the fruit anything like chocolate pudding. I am sure it would taste better here, with more sun and heat. I have thought about planting one almost ever since we moved to the finca. On the other hand, it almost certainly would have been killed by last January’s freeze, so just as well I did not.
Seed planted by MSS — 02 December 2007 @ 18:43