A persimmon is a sweet, smooth-textured fruit that grows on trees originally from Asia but now cultivated around the world. When perfectly ripe, a persimmon tastes like honey mixed with apricot, with a soft, almost pudding-like texture inside a thin, glossy orange skin.

The tricky thing about persimmons is timing. Some varieties taste terrible if you eat them too early: unripe persimmons are so astringent they make your mouth pucker and feel dry, almost like you’ve bitten into chalk. But wait until they’re soft and ripe, and that same fruit becomes incredibly sweet and delicious. Other varieties, like the Fuyu persimmon, can be eaten while still firm, like an apple.

Persimmons ripen in fall and early winter, when most other fruits have finished their season. In many cultures, persimmons are dried and eaten as a chewy, candy-like treat.