Persimmon Pudding & Local Ecology
Jason Summers with the best dessert ever & the ecology of a North Carolina farm
Although we met in NYC, Jason and I share a southern heritage, and oh, the layers and layers of memory, the following story and recipe bring up for me. I’ll bet good money that you can relate, even if you’re not from the U.S. South.
We all have a little regional in us, and it only takes the merest hint of flora, fauna, and food to bring it all to the surface, as if we’re right back in it, even when we’re far, far away.
So, dig in! It’s juicy.
Big love, Ashley
When we lived in NYC, we would visit friends in North Carolina, who lived a few houses away from this old farm, the one that’s ours now. We used to drive by it when it was derelict and a spooky, abandoned place. When we landed the farm in 2004, it was destined to be bulldozed so that smaller plots of regular houses could be built, a very different reality.
We think about our place as a mode of artwork, and it really gives me a lot of energy to think this way. Instead of thinking about various aspects of upkeep and hard work, especially on the forest, I have really changed my perspective. As a large-scale conceptual art project, the seemingly mundane hours of work become more fascinating for me.
Recently, I’ve spent much of my personal free time trying to fight invasive plant species on the small property, both in its field and forest—plants such as Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), and mimosa tree/Persian silk tree (Albizia julibrissin). I really dove into this project during the pandemic—to take out these plants and also learn about them, as well as other invasive species like bamboo and the famous southeastern US scourge of kudzu.
I’ve been on a tear trying to spread the word about the general idea of invasive plants and what they are doing to our natural bio-systems. I want to get people familiar with identifying and taking them out of their properties. Chinese privet, in particular, is really taking over this part of North Carolina. It is devastating, and yet most folks are unaware. It’s to the point where I’d like to advocate for legislation that could drive people to identify and eradicate these plants on a larger scale for the health of our larger ecology.
Taking out invasives has had a drastic impact on our land, and we’ve noticed a huge drop in the tick population with only the indigenous plants left here to thrive in their appropriate setting. In our restored bio-system, we now have bobcats, coyotes, yellow spotted salamanders, snapping and box turtles, red shouldered hawks, blue herons, and turkeys. This woodland habitat is flourishing.
In a bit of a paradox, I’ve been planting California Redwood trees here as well. They will grow in this part of North Carolina, and some folks like myself have been propagating California Redwoods to try and help preserve them, as they have been stressed and compromised in their native groves in California. It feels right to host these trees and give them a fighting chance here with global warming impacting their natural home.
Thinking about all the larger ecology as it relates to our little world here, we’ve discovered some decadently delicious payoffs. Tending to the land led us to recognize the value of the fruit trees we inherited and then, unearthed by fixing up the place.
When we moved here, we really connected with the neighbors, who have some deep knowledge of the area and of our place as well. With their help, we’ve filled in the blanks, and we’ve found vestiges of what this farm was 100 to 200 years ago, all around.
Up until the 1960’s, our little farm was a subsistence farm, with muscadine grapes, tobacco, pears, pecan trees, and persimmon trees. Many of the old plants and trees are still here. They survived on the property while it was abandoned from the late 1980’s through 2003. One of the most exciting holdovers is the persimmon trees.
Diospyros viginiana, commonly known as American persimmon can be found all over most of the eastern United States, but it is often an overlooked gem. Many people are unfamiliar with indigenous persimmons, and they are almost never seen in markets or grocery stores. They are just so weird and difficult if you don’t understand them.
One must be vigilant to work with this fruit on its own terms. The fruits drop when ripe and need to be gathered before the deer get them! It’s tricky because you must wait until the fruits fall. If picked from the tree, it means they are not ripe, and they will coat your tongue with a gnarly alkaloid that will make you gag. It’s an art figuring out which ones are ripe, and which aren’t, but you learn fast.
Ripe ones are clear-skinned and strangely pink/orange/yellow. Once you know their secret, you can make one of the most decadent southern desserts you can imagine. It’s possibly the best dessert I’ve ever had.
This persimmon recipe is from a Chapel Hill legend and the late Crook’s Corner chef and writer, Bill Neal. His incredibly influential book, Southern Cooking, lit a fire under the revival of southeastern US recipes.
We used to sell our persimmons to Crook’s Corner Restaurant for this recipe, and Bill Smith, who picked up the chef’s torch after Neal’s passing is a huge supporter of the arts in this area.
Persimmon Pudding
Recipe from Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking, 1st edition 1985, with permission to use granted by Bill Smith to Jason Axel Summers.
Ingredients
1 quart very ripe persimmons
2 cups buttermilk
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, plus more for buttering dish
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x9x2-inch baking dish or a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
Pass the persimmons through a food mill or colander to obtain 2 cups or so of pulp. Stir buttermilk into pulp.
In a separate bowl, beat butter well and gradually add sugar. Beat eggs separately, then beat into the persimmon mixture until well-combined.
In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients (except sugar)—flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon—twice. Fold the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients until well-mixed.
Pour the batter into the baking dish or loaf pan. Set this pan into a larger one and add enough boiling water around it to measure 1 inch.
Bake on middle level of the preheated oven for about 1 hour. The eggs should be set, but the pudding should remain very moist.
Serve it warm or cold with whipped cream or custard sauce.
Makes 16 servings.
Notes from Jason (to read before you get started):
You only need 2 cups of processed persimmons—it’s a pain in the ass—use a food mill and get ready for clean up! You are separating the fruit pulp from the skin plus five seeds for each fruit.
DO NOT mix the sugar in with the other dry ingredients, which get sifted together. ONLY mix the sugar in with the butter!
Don’t forget the buttermilk! I always do, and it’s the secret ingredient that makes this the amazing mousse-like treat that is possibly the best dessert you’ve ever had in your life. The usual persimmon pudding is harder and like a brownie—this one is not that at all! Don’t forget ice cream or whipped cream on top. It tastes like autumn—no joke.
P.S. Persimmons freeze great! You can gather them and throw them in a bag or container in the freezer until you are ready to process them and get the seeds out using a food mill. Each one has a woody cap, and five seeds. They taste like a slurpy gelatin candy just popping them in your mouth, as you suck out the goodness away from the seeds.
FED is a participant-supported publication and community. Free subscriptions are a gift to all from other readers, contributors, and the editor. Paying subscribers both get a gift and give a gift by first, receiving their free subscription from the community and then, passing the gift on to others, via upgrade, in one great circle of giving and receiving.
All are welcome at the table, and together, we co-create and sustain community.
For more goodies…
Learn more about Jason and FED’s entire Summer 2024 global crew of musicians, artists, writers, growers, gleaners, cooks, and craftspeople, and be sure to check out all the tasty morsels we're serving up this season including Jason’s “Your Own Gear & An Independent Drive” smorgasbord of art, music, and film, which went live earlier this week.
 | A guest post by
|