Home-made Dried Persimmons

A couple of weeks ago one of my darling elementary school teachers gave me a bag of persimmon (which I have recently discovered are DELICIOUS) with printed out instructions from the internet on how to dry them yourself at home.  This is common practice in the rural farming area that I live and so it was with great interest that I looked on as several school staff members began excitedly demonstrating each step as they hovered around my desk.  I gratefully took the persimmon home, along with the length of rope my Vice Principal offered me for the task, and a few days later attempted the process for myself.

First I had to pluck the leaves from the tops of the persimmon and then peel them, leaving a small portion of the skin on the bottom to stop the juices from dripping out.  Then I had to wash them and tie string around the stalks (which had been left on), one persimmon at each end of the string.

Wielding my persimmons-on-string I then went out to the balcony to hang them on my clothes line.  I wrapped each string around the clothes pole, in a place where they were both protected from the rain yet coud receive enough sunlight necessary for the drying process to be effective.  Each string had to be hung so that the persimmons weren't touching each other and could get maximum sunlight.

Now, I have to wait until January until they are ready to cut down and eat!  Oh, and did I mention that in order to ensure maximum flavour distribution throughout the dried persimmon I'm supposed to gently massage them weekly?  Haha.  Definitely an interesting cultural experience!