Fuyu Persimmon Carpaccio with San Daniele Ham, Manchego, Pecans & Aged Balsamic

I was walking in Chinatown the other day and came across a street vendor with a giant stall of Fuyu persimmons. I haven’t cooked much with persimmons before which is a shame because i just recently discovered what a versatile, delicious and beautiful ingredient it can be. After buying a bagful for a bargain i came home and started experimenting with them. A cake was made and mercilessly eaten. This salad barely survived long enough to be photographed.

It’s important to note there are many different varieties of persimmons, with only about 2 that are widely available  – the fuyu and the hachiya –  the astringent and the non-astringent. The fuyu belongs to the non-astringent types because it is palatable both before and after fully ripening, where as the hachiya belongs to the astringent varieties, when unripe they will suck out the moisture out of your cheeks and make you wrinkle and grimace like an old monkey. And i’m not exaggerating one bit.

The fuyu persimmon is firm, crispy and delicately sweet when not fully ripe and develops a deliciously rich honey-like type of sweet when fully ripe. When finely sliced into a carpaccio, sprinkled with fleur de sel and paired with a savory salad of frisée, mâche, endives, San Daniele ham, manchego and pecans it brings out the best of both worlds. A drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar adds complexity and character to create the perfect osmose between savory and sweet.

And that’s what you get for very little efforts.  Enjoy!

  • Fuyu Persimmon Carpaccio with San Daniele Ham, Manchego, Pecans & Aged Balsamic

  • Serves 4
    • For the salad:
    • 2 ripe Fuyu persimmons
    • 1 head frisée, washed and dried
    • 2 handfuls mâche, washed and dried
    • 2 endives, sliced
    • 1/4 lb San Daniele proscuitto, sliced finely
    • olive oil
    • juice from 1/2 lemon
    • Fleur de sel
    • Black pepper
    • 1/4 cup pecans, toasted
    • aged manchego, shaved
    • aged balsamic, for drizzling
    • For the salad :
    • Peel the fuyu persimmons and slice them finely on a mandoline. Arrange the slices on 4 plates and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.
    • Combine the frisée, mâche and endives in a medium bowl, season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss.
    • Mount the salad on top of the persimmon carpaccio, alternating slices of San Daniele proscuitto, shavings of aged manchego and pecans.
    • Grind some black pepper over the salads and drizzle with some aged balsamic. Serve. Enjoy. Yaddi yaddi, yadda.
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  • http://www.forkspoonnknife.com Asha@FSK

    WOW! Such vibrant colors!!! feels like summer!! :))

  • http://veggietestkitchen.com Veggietestkitchen

    wow. this looks wonderful.

  • shirley@kokken69

    I like the way you described how the Hachiya kaki would make you grimace and wrinkle like an old monkey 😀 … I have never been a big fan of persimmons, I don’t know why… but you’ve made this look really interesting and we are seeing these in the stores now. I think I will incorpoate this into my week long carb free diet….Happy Holidays!

  • http://pickyin.blogspot.com pickyin @ LifeIsGreat

    Persimmon is my favorite fruit. During Chinese New Year, we get the dried flattened versions to chew on. It’s like eating natural candy.

  • Bunkycooks

    Thanks for the warning! I don’t want to look like a monkey, so I will avoid the Hachiya version! I have never been a fan of persimmons, but you have convinced me to try them again with your beautiful dish. Hope you have a wonderful New Year’s!

  • Jeremy

    I may steal your idea for my menu??

  • Sarka

    I ate four persimmons yesterday. I have never cooked with them yet. Now I need to buy more and give this a try. This salad looks mouthwatering! Thank you for the inspiration and sharing the recipe!

  • http://colloquialcooking.com Colloquial Cool

    Oué, t’es en pole position sur foodgawker, mon canard! Ca va te revitaliser ton affaire, ça!
    Keep it up.

  • http://whatscookingmexico.com Ben Herrera

    I’ve never made anything with persimmon before, but I’m intrigued now. That dish looks so delicious!

  • Anonymous

    Suuure Jeremy, go ahead! That will cost you one loaf of bread though.

  • http://www.diethood.com Kate @ Diethood.com

    This looks beautiful! I’ve never cooked with persimmons – time to try!

  • http://breadetbutter.wordpress.com/ Su-yin

    You know what – I’ve never eaten a fresh persimmon! I feel slightly ashamed now, heh.

  • http://www.noobcook.com wiffy

    woah, what a gourmet and beautiful way to serve persimmons … I would only have just eaten like that lol… Happy New Year! ♥

  • Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

    I’ve only really eaten these fresh and not in a dish but they’re be so lovely eaten like this. Thankyou so much for the inspiration! 😀

  • Jeremy

    Hell I had 3, just I think your car is stuck in the snow and there is now parking whatsoever in my hood!

  • http://www.foodgal.com Carolyn Jung

    Fuyus are the only persimmons I eat. And I bet it is divine with the salty-sweet ham. YUM!

  • http://thelittleteochew.blogspot.com/ Ju (The Little Teochew)

    Your fuyu persimmon slices look like amber! Beautiful!

  • http://half-sleeve-tattoo-designs.com/nautical-star-tattoos Nautical Tattoo Designs

    OH MY! that looks delicious. This would be great to serve to lighten up the gloomy days in the winter.

  • Lemonpi

    I LOVE persimmons. Usually the fuyu ones because I’m too impatient to wait for the hachiyas to ripen 😛 All the best to you for 2011 ! x

  • http://twitter.com/sugarbardiva davina

    Ok I’m sold. Persimmon carpaccio??!?! My dad used to make me eat persimmon saying it was good for my health but I was never quite convinced. I think I’ve changed my mind now. Happy New Year Stephane. x

  • Joy

    As a child I always loved the Fuyu Persimmon, I’d remember trying to beat the fruits off the tree because I was too short to reach them -_-.

    You are so creative to come up with such a dish, you’re awesome :)

  • http://www.turntablekitchen.com Kasey

    It’s taken me a while to like persimmons but I’ve realized that I prefer them most in savory dishes. This looks fabulous!

  • http://herbivoracious.com Michael @ Herbivoracious.com

    Just learned of your site from Mark’s mention in his socialvores interview. This recipe title + pic was plenty to make me add you to my RSS reader!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks, Michael. And welcome! I have to go look for that interview now. hehe

  • waliz

    nice, simple n yummy.persimmon is always be my fav fruits

  • SamuraiSam

    we made this with a few tweaks (I am allergic to pecans) and it was delicious. great idea