Persimmon Festival
If you’re a Hoosier, you know that native persimmons (rather than those imported from abroad) are tops in taste. We’re talking about the American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) that’s native to the eastern United States. (As a bonus: it’s higher in vitamin C, calcium, iron and potassium than the Japanese variety —hachiya— commonly found in U.S. grocery store produce aisles.)
The 67th annual Persimmon Festival, which runs September 21 through 28, 2013, celebrates the American Persimmon. It’s held in Mitchell, Indiana (map) and sponsored by Greater Mitchell Chamber of Commerce.
Of course the fest has all the trappings of a small town festival with a parade, carnival rides and entertainment, but for us Road Trips Foodies, the proof is in the pudding — which you can taste at several of the food vendors (not to mention buy persimmon pulp to take home and cook into your own personal pudding).
Persimmon, of course, is the main ingredient in a hotly contested competition during the festival. You can enter a pudding or a novelty dessert (“anything except cookies”). To give you some inspiration, recipes from previous winners are online.
(Photo courtesy of Wikpedia Commons)
