Posts Tagged: South Coast Research and Extension Center
Los persimos son la alegría del otoño
Cuando el clima se pone frío en el otoño y se aproximan los días festivos, los orbes se maduran en los árboles de persimos o caquis en California para ofrecer una dulzura otoñal a tiempo para las recetas de la temporada y decoración festiva.
En el Centro de Investigación y Extensión del Sur de UC, en Irvine (UC South Coast Research and Extension Center), conocido en inglés por sus siglas SCREC, una colección de 53 variedades de persimos están en su mero apogeo en noviembre cuando el público es invitado a degustar y cosechar durante el día anual del persimo.
“Queremos crear consciencia sobre los persimos”, dijo Tammy Majcherek, educadora comunitaria del SCREC. “Es un hermoso árbol y una gran adición para cualquier paisaje. El árbol de persimos provee sombra en el verano, frutos saludables en el otoño y luego tira sus hojas permitiendo que se filtre la calidez solar en el invierno. Es una situación ideal para todos, en cuanto a árboles de paisaje se refiere”.
La colección de persimos llegó al centro de investigaciones en la década de los 60, cuando el desaparecido profesor de horticultura subtropical de UCLA, Art Schroeder, se encargó de mudar su colección de variedades de persimos a otro lugar, porque la presión de los desarrolladores urbanos en el campus de Westwood se incrementó.
Los persimos son nativos de dos partes del mundo, China y Estados Unidos. El persimo chino logró llegar hasta Japón donde su popularidad se disparó. El persimo estadounidense proviene de los estados del sureste, sin embargo, los persimos de California remontan su linaje hasta Asia.
De acuerdo con el Reporte de Cultivos del Departamento de Agricultura, California encabeza a los estados de la nación en producción de persimos, pero con un valor de alrededor de 21 millones de dólares en el 2012, representa solo una pequeña fracción del valor de cultivos de árboles frutales y nueces de California, de 19 mil millones de dólares en el 2012.
Sin embargo, para los visitantes que participaron en el recorrido de la colección de UC en el SCREC, los persimos son una fruta de elección. Los participantes del recorrido VIP matutino recibieron una bolsa de compras grande para llenarla con diferentes variedades de persimos fuyu y hachiya. Los fuyu son frutos planos de color amarillo anaranjado que pueden comerse directo del árbol como manzanas o dejarlos madurar para obtener una pulpa súper dulce y suave. Los hachiya son más rojos, tiene forma de corazón y son astringentes cuando no están completamente maduros. “Si los muerde, sentirá una aspereza en la lengua de inmediato”, dijo un participante.
Sin embargo, después de que maduran y obtienen una pulpa gelatinosa y suave o se secan, los Hachiya son igualmente deliciosos.
Shirley Salado, supervisora del Programa de Expandido de Alimentos y Nutrición de Extensión Cooperativa de UC (Cooperative Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) en el condado de San Diego, asistió a la degustación del persimo para recopilar frutas e información para su programa educativo.
“El fuyu es genial para comerse”, señaló Salado. “Cuando se maduran y la pulpa se pone muy suave, puede ponerla en la licuadora y molerla y congelarla en bolsas plásticas con cierre para agregarlos a batidos saludables”.
Salado llenó dos bolsas grandes de persimos para compartir con su personal de educación sobre nutrición.
“No todos saben sobre esto”, indicó. “Ello les permite darle un vistazo a la fruta. Esto es lo que promovemos”.
Después del recorrido, Cinda Webb, coordinadora del programa maestro para conservar alimentos de UC de SCREC hizo una demostración sobre el consumo seguro de persimos haciendo con ellos una mermelada con un toque de canela, chips de persimo seco y una ensalada gourmet de albahaca, betabel y arroz.
Ensalada de arroz silvestre o integral con persimos
4 tazas de arroz silvestre o integral, cocinado
2 persimos Fuyu, picados
1 tazas de betabeles cocidos y picados
1 taza de up albahaca, picada
8 onzas de queso feta
½ taza de vinagreta de naranja y comino
Vinagreta (rinde 1 taza)
½ taza de jugo de naranja
¼ taza de aceite de olivo
2 cucharaditas de vinagre de arroz
1 cucharada de miel de maple
1½ cucharadita de comino
1 cucharadita de cilantro
½ cucharadita de sal
Preparación
- Bata a mano los ingredientes para la vinagreta
- Vierta la albahaca, betabel, persimos y queso feta sobre el arroz y revuelva con la mitad de la vinagreta.
- Adorne con rebanadas de persimos y un poco de albahaca.
48800.persimons8
Un miembro de la Asociación de Productores de Frutas Raras, Dewey Savage, muestra persimos con una pulpa color marrón. El oscurecimiento se debe al alcohol liberado por las semillas dentro del fruto. El alcohol neutraliza los taninos que hacen que el persimo sea astringente. La reacción química natural da como resultado una fruta más dulce.
Voluntarios del programa Jardineros Maestros de UC prepararon persimos de diferentes variedades para ser degustados.
Los participantes evaluaron las variedades de persimos basados en su atractivo, astringencia, azúcar, sabor y rendimiento general.
Thanksgiving persimmons are autumn joy
When the weather cools in the fall and the holidays draw near, orange orbs ripen on persimmon trees in California to offer a fresh autumn sweetness in time for Thanksgiving recipes and holiday décor.
At the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center (SCREC) in Irvine, a collection of 53 persimmon varieties are at their peak in November when the public is invited for tasting and harvesting at the annual persimmon field day.
“We want to raise awareness about persimmons,” said Tammy Majcherek, SCREC community educator. “It's a beautiful tree and a great addition to any landscape. Persimmon trees provide shade in the summer, healthy fruit in the fall, then drop their leaves and allow the sun's warmth to come through in the winter. It's a win-win situation as far as landscape trees go.”
The persimmon collection came to the research center in the 1960s, when the late UCLA subtropical horticulture professor Art Schroeder arranged to move his collection of persimmon varieties to another venue because the pressure of urban development at the Westwood campus became too great.
Persimmons are native in two parts of the world, China and the United States. The Chinese persimmon made its way to Japan, where its popularity soared. The American persimmon comes from the Southeastern United States, however, most California persimmons trace their lineage to Asia.
California leads the nation in persimmon production, according to the California Department of Agriculture Crop Report, but with a value of about $21 million in 2012, it represents just a small fraction of the state's $19 billion 2012 tree fruit and nut value.
Nevertheless, to the visitors who came out to tour UC's collection at SCREC, persimmon is a choice fruit. Participants on the early-morning VIP tour received a large shopping bag to fill with various varieties of fuyu and hachiya persimmons. Fuyu are flat, yellow-orange fruit that can be eaten right off the tree like apples or allowed to mature to a super-sweet soft pulp. Hachiya are redder, heart-shaped and astringent when not fully ripened. “If you bite it, it will bite your mouth right back,” said one participant.
However, after ripening to a jelly soft pulp or dried, the hachiya is equally delicious.
Shirley Salado, the UC Cooperative Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program supervisor in San Diego County, attended the persimmon tasting to gather fruit and information for her education program.
“The fuyu is great to eat,” Salado said. “When they ripen and become very soft, you can put the pulp in a blender and then freeze in zipper bags to add to healthy smoothies.”
Salado collected two large bags of persimmons to share with her nutrition education staff.
“Not everybody knows about these,” Salado said. “This gives them a chance to look at the fruit. This is what we promote.”
Following the tour, coordinator of the UC Master Food Preserver program at SCREC Cinda Webb demonstrated safe consumption by making cinnamon persimmon jam, dried persimmon chips, and a gourmet persimmon, basil, beet and rice salad.
Wild or brown rice persimmon salad
4 cups wild or brown rice, cooked
2 Fuyu persimmons, chopped
1 cup cooked, chopped beets
1 cup basic, chopped
8 oz feta cheese
½ cup orange cumin vinaigrette
Vinaigrette (makes about 1 cup)
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup olive oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1½ tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp salt
Directions
- Whisk together vinaigrette dressing ingredients
- Stir basil, beets, persimmons and feta into rice and toss with ½ cup vinaigrette.
- Top with persimmon slices and extra chopped basil for presentation.
Adding variety: avocados and guacamole
I have limited cooking skills, so I’m lucky that my wife is a great cook and an even better baker – lemon bars, anyone?
But there’s one dish she prefers that I prepare: guacamole. I was thinking about this when I was reviewing our recent photo shoot at UC ANR’s South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine, which included images of strawberries, citrus and avocados.
“Our whole goal is to make the industry in California more sustainable,” said UC Cooperative Extension specialist Mary Lu Arpaia, in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside.
Arpaia leads UC’s efforts to develop new avocado varieties. The dominant variety, Hass, started in 1926 in Southern California and has become so common globally that it could become generic, Arpaia said.
“My belief is the way we’re going to differentiate ourselves as a California industry and survive is by breeding something unique,” Arpaia said.
UC Riverside has developed several avocado varieties, signing a license agreement last year for its latest release, GEM. The great-granddaughter of the Hass avocado, GEM shares Hass’ desired characteristics such as a creamy, nutty flesh while offering growers additional benefits such as being a smaller tree that typically is more productive, Arpaia said.
Arpaia is evaluating more varieties. The next potential release is likely two to three years away, she said.
Meanwhile, Arpaia also is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve the postharvest quality of avocados – how packing houses and distribution centers should handle the fruit, for how long and at what temperature.
“People definitely like fruit that is creamy, smooth, nutty and buttery. They like fruit that has a pleasant aftertaste,” said Arpaia, who conducts monthly avocado tasting panels at UC Riverside.
Packed with nearly 20 nutrients including potassium, avocados are an appetizing addition to salads and sandwiches. Arpaia likes them sliced, eaten alone, in a salad or on a warm corn tortilla. Some like them sweet in cheesecake or milkshakes. Of course, they’re best known as the base ingredient in guacamole.
I keep my guacamole simple: avocados (three), white onion (one-third), Roma tomatoes (three), lime (one), cilantro and salt. I start by scooping out the avocado pulp, slicing it into medium chunks and putting it in a bowl, mixing in lime juice. Then I dice the onion and tomatoes (seeded) into fine pieces and toss them in the bowl, followed by chopped cilantro. Next, I mash it up with a spoon, sprinkling on some salt and more lime juice. Test it and then serve.
For a spicier version, add garlic, jalapeños or serranos. The possibilities are plentiful. Just make sure you start with ripe avocados. What’s your favorite guacamole recipe?