Dried Persimmons are Your Next New Dessert

As I peruse the Fethiye markets, I don’t even have to look too far before finding something I’ve never seen before from the same vendors.

Usually, it’s something from the last or current season that has been dried or preserved, some food ingredient I didn’t realize could or would be dried. In this case, it’s all about persimmons. In Turkish they’re often referred to as kuru hurma. 

Several years ago, I wrote about some persimmons I bought in Chicago, but I honestly don’t remember the taste of them. That said, they must’ve been nothing to write home about, because I don’t have a recollection either way of whether they tasted good or not or what they tasted like at all. I’ve seen the fresh ones here and thus had no interest in trying them.

For some reason, however, I was really drawn to these dried persimmons when I saw them in a crate at the Tuesday market last week. 

I didn’t buy them until I went back on Friday, and what I discovered was a totally new food that I will be buying again and again- and in place of sweets, in place of even my chocolate craving that comes with having a glass of tea.

Why?, you might ask…Well, I described them over on my Instagram page as tasting like a deeper, earthier version of Medjool dates. They also have a seed in the middle, too, though it’s flatter and smaller than that of a date. 

They look like they’re coated in powdered sugar, but they’re not; it’s actual sugar from the fruit that comes out naturally during the drying process (I learned that from my awesome readers over on Instagram and Facebook when I posted this picture, so thank you)….isn’t that cool? 

“The powdered stuff at the outside is actually sugar but a fun fact is that these fruits don’t have this sugar added to them it just appears naturally in the drying process. This acts as a preservative and a protective coating.
Enjoy”– D.A. Malik (commenter on the MHK FB page)

Have you ever had dried persimmon? If so, where did they come from and did you like them? Tell me more in the comments below….