Fruits

Greetings one and all. Fall is here and so are the fruits of the season, which is awesome.


The orange one to the far right is a persimmon. They are only around in the fall, and are just one of the many reasons why it is the best season. I think the ones in this area are a little slower to ripen than in other places because we're up here in the mountains, but the local ones just started appearing at the farmer's market-type place, so it is good times. The Japanese word for persimmon is kaki, 柿, and there are two types, sweet and astringent. Both types are pretty sweet, though. This one is sweet, if I recall correctly. The astringent ones are longer and less tomato-looking. I don't think I ever had a persimmon until I came here, and they are so good they make me not want to leave.

The green one is a hayato uri, with uri being gourd. By far, they are the weirdest fruit I have ever eaten. It took forever to find out what they are in English. According to wikipedia, they are called chayote, among many other names. They're very thick and heavy and don't have much flavor, at least raw. I haven't tried cooking them yet. They do leave a weird layer of slime in your mouth and on your lips that is very hard to get off.

The little brown one in front is a chestnut. About a month ago, these were all over the place, and one time while walking home in a part of town where nobody lives, I picked up a bunch. If you boil them, the insides get soft and you can break them open with your teeth. I don't know what else to do with them. They taste a bit like sweet potatoes.

The Japanese word for chestnut is kuri, but the French (?) loanword marron has also become common, so I've had multiple occasions of Japanese people talking to me about them and guessing that marron was the English word. They're always surprised that it isn't.

I recently found out that in addition to making shouchuu, a kind of liquor that is kind of like vodka but from Korea (soju in Korean), out of wheat or sweet potatoes, it can also be made out of chestnuts, which to me tasted much better. Shouchuu in general is terrible and only good for mixing with hot water on a cold night.

Lastly, the red one is a mystery fruit. There were two of them at the store in a package by themselves in the marked down food thing, so I bought them. They are really good. At first I thought they were peaches, but now maybe I think they are nectarines or something like it because they don't have fuzz on the outside.

I just watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown today and I was still amazed by it. Happy Halloween, if I forget to update again before then!