Another Persimmon Salad from the 1940s

Did I happen to mention that I have a lot of persimmons in my kitchen?  And that I have an interest in exploring what California cuisine meant in the 1940s?

The first recipe I posted using persimmons and relating to California cuisine was a persimmon salad that was so basic:  whole, peeled persimmons embedded in lemon gelatin.  That's it!  It was tasty and light, so it was a success.  You can see the post by clicking here:  Persimmon Salad from the 1940s.

Today's post is from the same book, The California Cook Book for Indoor and Outdoor Eating by Genevieve Callahan.

For Indoor and Outdoor Eating

On pages 42 - 43, she offered another version, this one more elaborate.

Jellied Persimmon Salad

3 large, very ripe persimmons

20 ounce can crushed pineapple

3 ounce box lemon-flavored gelatin

dash salt

"Fluffy fruit dressing"*

Those persimmons are as soft as pudding.

Choose a container to act as a mold for the salad.  It needs to hold at least 4 cups volume.  Lightly spray it with non-stick cooking spray and then wipe out the excess.  

Open can of pineapple, pour into a colander over a bowl so the fruit drains and you save the liquid.

Pull off and discard the tops of the persimmons then use a spoon and your fingers to start peeling.  At a certain point it becomes easier to just scoop the pulp out of the skin.

Put pulp in a bowl and mash thoroughly with a potato masher.  Remove and discard any seeds.

Mix in 1 cup crushed pineapple.  Cover and put in the refrigerator.

Add enough water to the pineapple juice to make 1 1/2 cups.   

Heat in the microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes or until boiling.  Alternatively, heat on the stove.

Add the gelatin and stir vigorously until it is clear or mostly so.

Put the gelatin in the refrigerator.  Cool until slightly thickened.

Add a dash of salt and fold in the fruit.

Pour into the mold, shake or tap to level it and remove any air bubbles.

Refrigerate until solid.

Serve as suggested by Ms. Callahan.

*Fluffy fruit dressing recipe will be in the next post.

My Notes

I didn't have three large persimmons, so I used 1 large and four small.  They were very ripe, dark orange and squishy to the touch.

My pineapple came in juice, not syrup, but I didn't worry about have less sugar in the dish.  There was precisely 1 cup liquid.

I chilled the gelatin in a glass measuring cup for 1 hour, 45 minutes, which was too long.  It wasn't "slightly thickened," it was thick but not fully set.  I crossed my fingers and proceeded with the recipe anyway.

My main concern was that the gelatin with all the fruit in it would not set up all the way, or at all.  All I could do was hope.

The mold chilled overnight.  When I took the salad out of the mold, I rubbed the mold all over with a hot, damp cloth to loosen the gelatin.

Persimmon pulp, crushed pineapple, and liquid gelatin.

Chilled!

The Verdict

I took it to a friendly barbeque gathering and presented it as a salad.  People were surprised that it wasn't a dessert, but I emphasized that the cookbook author claimed it was a salad and that it wasn't very sweet.

One person was somewhat skeptical about eating it at all, claiming that having grown up in the midwest, his experience with gelatin-based dishes was not very positive.  But he was willing to try it.

I did not serve it on a bed of lettuce, as Ms. Callahan suggested.  I simply tipped the mold out onto a plate and put a big spoonful of the fluffy fruit dressing in the middle.  The rest of the dressing was served on the table so people could choose to add more as they liked.

My first reaction was that it was pretty.  The gelatin was orange from the persimmons.  The visual texture was nice, too, as the crushed pineapple was lighter in color than the persimmon pulp in contrast and the pieces of fruit gave depth to the presentation.  Also, the dressing was a soft pink color, which looked good with the gelatin.

Out of the mold and with the dressing.  Extra dressing in the upper right corner.

As for the taste, I liked it!  Even better than the previous persimmon salad.  It was more complex in flavor, had an interesting texture while chewing, and, as several guests said, "it was balanced."  It was not too sweet and the lemon-persimmon-pineapple flavors worked well together.  The dressing was tart with the flavors of currant and lemon, which is what everyone thought made the entire combination balanced.  Not sweet but sweet-and-tart.  The fluffy dressing contrasted well with the more solid gelatin.

Several people wanted me to mention that they took a second serving, and that was a compliment.  

As for my midwest skeptic?  He tried it and liked it!  He said that the balance of flavors and the way all the parts came together made him realize what the gelatin dishes of his childhood should have been like.  

My only complaint is that the gelatin was too soft.  That could be because the gathering was outside and it was sunny, but it slumped as time went on and the leftovers never firmed up again, even after being refrigerated.  I also wonder if I waited too long to mix in the fruit and salt.  I think that there was enough liquid between the pineapple juice and water and persimmon pulp that it may have needed more gelatin.  A small boost from a packet of unflavored gelatin would have worked, as well as using a larger box of flavored gelatin.

Ms. Callahan notes elsewhere in the book that the pinch of salt gives two advantages:  it helps to set the gelatin and it brings out the flavors in the dish.  I guess it worked because my guest tasters liked it!

Success!

See the next post for the recipe for the "Fluffy Fruit Dressing", which is a recipe called the "Women's Club Fruit Dressing."

 

A Persimmon Salad from the 1940s

I have lived in California all my life, so it is easy for me to take the abundance we have for granted.  While I have traveled around the United States and in a few other countries, I don't always recognize that the climate we have is different in a wonderful kind of way.  Where I live, we have a mild climate year-round with the opportunity to grow a variety of fruits, nuts, and vegetables.  

That got me wondering, "What exactly IS California cuisine?"  Sure, I can look around me now and see all the current influences, but what fun is that?  I wanted to know what made California cuisine distinct in prior decades.  Then I recalled that there was a big influx of people arriving in the first half of the 20th century, including my ancestors, who arrived in the 1930s and 1940s.

This website, California Migration History 1850-2022, offers clickable tabs on a chart showing the birthplaces of California residents to compare to the total population of the state.  For example, 1900 shows a population of  1.4 million with about 650,000 born in California, about 50%.  1910 and 1920 show about 37% born in CA, 1930 about 34%, 1940 and 1950 about 36%.  In other words, two-thirds of the population weren't born in the state!  During this time the population of California grew to 10.8 million (1950).

I looked for a cookbook that captured the cuisine of that time period, and I found The California Cook Book for Indoor and Outdoor Eating by Genevieve Callahan.  

For Indoor and Outdoor Eating

One aspect that makes California cuisine distinct, she pointed out, is the use of "Strange Fruits in Salads" (page 17).  In particular, in Southern California, subtropical fruits can be grown "as ornamentals."  She noted it is worth watching the local markets to get items such as mangos, papayas, guavas, cherimoyas, feijoas, passionfruits, white sapotas, kumquats, loquats, pomegranates, and persimmons.

It is persimmon season in my area and I have an abundance of them in my kitchen, thanks to a colleague whose trees "produce hundreds" and a local homeowner who sells them from his garage at an excellent price.

Ms. Callahan gave several recipes that use persimmons in salads, some in ways unusual to me.  

However, the first one I tried was so very basic:  lemon-flavored gelatin with whole persimmons embedded in it.  What attracted me to it was that she stated on page 26,

The Mission Inn Hotel and Spa is an iconic Riverside location.  It started as an adobe boarding house in 1876 and then became a full-service hotel in the early 1900s.  By the 1940s and early 1950s, it was a "place to be" because famous people stayed there, such as Albert Einstein, Booker T. Washington, Helen Keller, Clark Gable, and a variety of U. S. presidents.  But it later closed and became rundown and was almost demolished until purchased by the current owners in the 1980s who renovated it.  It has returned to being a beautiful location to stay, dine, and enjoy the spa.

I didn't want a "large ring mold" for two people to consume, but I do have some small gelatin molds that were deep enough to hold a small, peeled persimmon.  I wanted to see the persimmons "glowing" through the gelatin!

Here goes:

3 ounce package lemon-flavored gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold water

6 small soft-ish persimmons

6 individual serving gelatin molds

Just add water!

Mix gelatin with the boiling water, stirring until it is dissolved -- the liquid looks clear.

Add the cold water and stir some more.

Pour a thin layer of gelatin into each mold.  Set into the refrigerator to chill until firmly solid (about 10 to 15 minutes).

While they are chilling, cut off the tops and then peel each persimmon.  If you see any seeds, remove those by cutting them out with a knife.  You should have at least one flat side on each persimmon -- note which is the most attractive side.

Remove the molds from the refrigerator.  Put one persimmon into each cup, setting the attractive side down on the gelatin and centering it in the mold.  Using a fork made it easy to control.

Pour the rest of the liquid gelatin into the molds, covering the persimmon with at least a very thin layer (if possible!).

Set molds back into the refrigerator and chill until solid.

To serve, put some very warm water into a shallow bowl.  Dip the molds in one at a time, without getting water onto the gelatin, leaving it very briefly.  Just enough to soften the sides of the gelatin.

Turn the mold over onto a plate to serve.

A thin layer to ensure the persimmon is enclosed.

I peeled extra, just in case.

The fork pokes into the "down" side.

The mold is full and the fruit is almost covered.

My Notes

My molds hold about 1/2 cup liquid each.  Once I added the persimmons, I ended up with 5 completely filled molds and several extra with just the bottom layers.  So let's say to plan for 6 molds.

Putting the molds in a small cake pan made it easy to transfer to/from the refrigerator.

The fork was poked into the non-attractive side of the persimmon, which allowed me to place it carefully on the gelatin and center it.  My fingers stayed out of the way.

It took over an hour for the gelatin in the filled molds to feel solid.  I let them chill much longer before I served them.

The Verdict

It was good!  I mean, for all that it was just lemon gelatin and persimmon, it was a light, refreshing salad.  The persimmon flavor goes well with the lemon, so that was a good pairing.

My guest taster thought it was fine.  Not earth-shattering as a recipe goes, but fine enough.

Did the persimmon glow through the gelatin?  You be the judge:

Pretty!

The persimmon was soft enough that it was easily cut with a knife, and the gelatin was firm enough that it held its shape after cutting.

As for presentation, I would probably serve this on a bed of dark green lettuce or spinach greens if for a salad.  It would also be good as a light dessert, especially if a cookie (thin, crisp) was with it.  

To be honest, I had some for breakfast the next day, which was tasty, too.

Success!

I doubt you will ever find the Mission Inn serving this again.  It was fun to find out that they did.