Persimmon Pudding

Early settlers in the mid- and southeastern portion of what was to become the United States had quite a culinary experience when they first encountered native persimmons. For as delicious, creamy, and sweet as the perfectly ripe fruit can be — they should be so ripe, in fact, that they are just about falling apart — taking a bite of an unripe persimmon will make you pucker and reach desperately for a glass of water to wash away the unpleasant sour and bitter taste and the peculiar dry feeli