FROM KAKI TO PERSIMMON

 

 


     Although the Persimmon is a global fruit, I had never eaten persimmon in my childhood. The first time I recall seeing a persimmon fruit was not in the supermarket but on the ground in Italy, after having fallen off a tree. I was curious what this orange fruit that was rotting on the ground in front of me was: the answer was Kaki.
    The Italian word Kaki was derived from the Japanese word Gaki, so that the word itself creates a historical record of the origin of the fruit. However, the Kaki or Persimmon is native to Japan, China, Korea, Burma and Nepal. Yet, somehow the Japanese word is the word that jumped to Italian. Yet, the word Kaki did not jump to English. Instead Kaki becomes Persimmon, which is derived from the Algonquian word for dried fruit, which is derived from the American variety of persimmon.
    I learned the word kaki, though I did not eat kaki or persimmon until 15 years later. At that time in Italy, I knew of the kaki as a fruit that grew on a tree in a public park in Italy. I visited the public park many times during my sojourn in Livorno, as I relaxed on the ground nearby the Kaki or the Persimmon tree, looking at the tree.
    Years later, when I stumbled upon the persimmon fruit in America at Costco, I immediately thought of the skinny tree that I had rested by in Italy all those years ago. Now, it was an orange fruit, packed in a plastic case of 12.  I was rediscovering the persimmon fruit through the eyes of Korea. The Persimmon fruit that is sold in American supermarkets is the sweet Fuyu Persimmon, which in Korea is called dan gam. The tree itself in Korea is called gam namu, or tree of transformation, in which the Persimmon transforms from bitter green to sweet orange. This color truth signals the natural transformation of the Persimmon. Knowing this made me enjoy the taste of the persimmon even more.

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