🍊 K’s Column 006 : スイーツとしての干し柿
冬になる頃に干し柿が店頭に並び始める。
なかなかいいお値段だ。
干し柿とは渋柿を干して作られる、いわば保存食だ。
昔は今のように甘い食べ物が豊富ではなかったので、干し柿は重宝されたはずだ。
渋い柿はそのままでは食べられないから、皮を剥いて軒先に吊るし、数日放置する。
時間が経つと次第に甘くなってくる。
なぜ甘くなるのか、昔の人はそれを知っていて干し始めたのかどうかは知らない。
もしかすると偶然の産物だったのかもしれない。
干したものが太陽の光を浴びて冷たい風にさらされながら、甘みを増していったのだ。
時間が経てば経つほど甘味は凝縮する。
そういえば日本以外の国でフルーツとしての柿を店頭で見たことがない。
調べてみたら柿は存在するそうだけれど、甘いか渋いかわからないので販売されないそうだ。
ということは、日本以外の国では食用の対象ではないのかもしれない。
なんだか勿体無い気もする。
甘ければ普通に販売し、渋ければ干して販売すれば美味しいのに。
日本では甘柿とは別に渋柿も販売される。
甘柿が1個200円なら渋柿は20分の1くらい、もしくはそれ以下の価格だから、一袋購入して自分で作ればよい。
出来上がった干し柿はクリームチーズを塗ったり、胡桃と一緒に食べたりすると、これがまた美味しい。
そうやって、自分で楽しんで作るのも、またいいものだ。
🇬🇧 English version below
🍊 K’s Column 006 : Dried Persimmons as a Sweet Treat
As winter approaches, dried persimmons begin to appear on store shelves.
They tend to be rather expensive.
Dried persimmons are made from astringent persimmons that have been dried—
in other words, a kind of preserved food.
In the past, when sweet foods were not as abundant as they are today, dried persimmons must have been highly valued.
Astringent persimmons cannot be eaten as they are, so people peel them, hang them under the eaves of their houses, and leave them there for several days.
As time passes, they gradually become sweet.
Why do they become sweet?
I don’t know whether people in the past understood the reason when they first began drying them.
Perhaps it was simply a fortunate accident.
Exposed to sunlight and chilled by the winter wind, the persimmons slowly gain sweetness.
The longer they are left to dry, the more concentrated that sweetness becomes.
Come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing persimmons sold as fruit in stores outside of Japan.
According to what I’ve read, persimmons do exist in other countries, but since it’s hard to tell whether they will be sweet or astringent, they are not commonly sold.
That makes them seem like they are not considered food at all.
It feels like such a waste.
If they are sweet, they could simply be sold as fruit.
If they are astringent, they could be dried and sold that way—because dried persimmons are delicious.
In Japan, astringent persimmons are sold alongside sweet ones.
If a sweet persimmon costs around 200 yen, an astringent one might cost only a twentieth of that price, or even less.
You can buy a whole bag and make dried persimmons yourself.
Once they are ready, spreading them with cream cheese or eating them with walnuts is especially good.
Taking the time to make and enjoy them yourself—
that, too, is part of their charm.