First For Everything: #1 Sharon Fruit

I like to try new things as often as I can and, whilst the familiar is always reliable, the discovery of something delicious to annex your culinary repertoire is always a good thing. Apart from when it's not enjoyable; such is the price we intrepid food explorers pay!

That's where Diospyros Kaki comes in, otherwise known as Japanese Persimmon, Kaki Persimmon, Asian Persimmon, Sharon fruit, Korean mango or any other name I care to purloin from Wikipedia. It's a relatively small fruit that resembles an orange beef tomato. The "Sharon" variety is actually a cultivated variant that removes the astringency of it's progenitor.

Displayed here in a completely unsculpted scenario

The leaves are inedible but the skin is perfectly comestible and the dark spots represent pockets of concentrated natural sugars within the fruit. Those indicative dots remind me of good marbling in a piece of beef or pork; this in turn makes me hungry.

Once sliced open I was greeted with a subtle fragrant mixture of citrus and pumpkin. A slightly squashy smell (squashy: of or pertaining to members of the squash family. If it isn't a word it is now) accentuated by a sweet zest, like a mix between orange and lemon. The internet, an infallible source of truth, informs me that the original versions grown in China are a lot more pungent so perhaps I will endeavour to get those at some point. For now, the western equivalent will suffice.

I swear, they just *landed* in the basket like that!

The flavour is something quite unique and moreish. Without being sickly, it exhibits a syrupy ooze of pear and orange that greets the tongue upon mastication with a brief hint of cucumber who, presumably, is knocking on Sharon fruit's door asking why it wasn't invited as well.

The party continues unabated as you discover that the fruit has crisp skin and grainy flesh almost indiscernible from a pear. Whilst, at least the ones I tried, weren't bursting with juice the flavours and textures were both singularly exclusive and enjoyable. I surmise that it would pair well with a fruit that had more liquid content and a sharper flavour such as lemon, passion fruit and grape.

But these are investigations best left for another day, as I will leave on the notion that the Sharon fruit is surprisingly accessible given its far-flung origins. It isn't a food that you have to struggle to understand nor utilise your expert palette to fully appreciate.

It's going to become a more regular item in my fruit basket after today's trial. That is, providing I can get it for 10p in the reduced aisle every time.

I'll just get a doughnut instead.