What’s mo’ temptin’ to de palate, When you’s wuked so hard all day, En cum in home at ebentime Widout a wud to say,– En see a stewin’ in de stove A possum crisp en brown, Wid great big sweet potaters, A layin’ all aroun’
-Maggie Pogue Johnson (circa 1910)
I grew up as a child and young adult on a property in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee and was free to roam the twenty acres that we called “Woliver’s Mountain”. The rural setting was home to much flora and fauna including possums and persimmons. Here are two stories drawn from the recesses of my memory, but first, let’s inform the stories.
Two possums photographed in the barn at Merry Mount one night last week
Possum or Opossum?
Both possum and opossum correctly refer to the Virginia opossum frequently seen in North America. In common use, possum is the usual term; in technical or scientific contexts opossum is preferred.
Ranging from southern Canada all the way to northern Costa Rica, theVirginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana, if we want to get technical) is the only marsupial found north of Mexico. Most English speakers who encounter the creature drop the Virginia and refer to it simply as an opossum. Except that's not quite right, because most of us call it a possum.
Oh Pleasant Opossum
If an opossum you should see give a nod, respectfully. These neighbors feed on waste and rot and eat the things you'd rather not. They even gobble lots of ticks which helps keep us from getting sick. They do not dig, or stay for long they grab a snack and move along. Though they may hiss in times of fright they'd much rather play dead than fight. These peaceful critters do no harm but after dark come out to charm. Oh if a 'possum comes in sight please do bid them a pleasant night.
~ Marilyn Anne Campbell
Persimmons on a tree at Franklin Park Conservatory 10/3/23
Persimmons or “Possum Apples”
Persimmon is a name we owe to the Algonquin Indians. They collected the fruit, the pasimenan, dried them like prunes and made bread from them all winter. Hill folk call the big berries "possum apples," for on a fall night when the persimmons are ripe you're almost certain to find a passel of fat opossums gathered for a feast. We humans also have to share the windfall with raccoon, fox, skunk, deer and just about every other critter of woodland and field with a sweet tooth.
The name for the persimmon genus, Diospyros, translates as "fruit of the gods," which is arguably accurate when the berry is fully ripe. But a green persimmon is so laden with astringent tannin that one bite will pucker your lips for an hour. You need to wait until the 'simmons look and feel like rotten apples, crinkled and mushy, usually after a frost. Separated from the four to eight large, flat seeds, the orange pulp can be used for a variety of delicious cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, jams and juices.
-Les Line, from https://www.audubon.org/news/possum-apples
Story One
My Papaw Woliver was a hunter and forager and was willing to taste anything he may have heard was edible. Early one fall morning he captured a possum (while it was playing dead) and placed it in one of his empty fowl pens (he raised chickens, guinea fowl, pheasants, and quail). He then told his wife, Snooks, my Granny, that he intended to fatten it up so she could roast it. He fed it table scraps and persimmons for dessert. One morning in early December, just after he had declared that the possum was fully fattened, he went to the pen only to find that the door had been miraculously opened and the possum had escaped. Granny professed that she knew nothing of the escape.
Story Two
One morning in early fall, when I was about ten years old, my Dad and I went squirrel hunting on Woliver’s Mountain and we came across a tree that had greenish yellow fruit hanging from it. My Dad told me that the fruit wasn’t ripe and that I should not eat it. A few weeks later, while exploring the woods on my own, I once again came across the “Possum Apple” tree. The fruit had turned slightly more orange, and I couldn’t resist tasting the forbidden apples. Soon my mouth began to pucker and I hurried home to try to wash out my mouth. Later in early December I returned to the tree to find that many mushy orange fruit had fallen on the ground and once again I tried the fruit and discovered a very sweet, pleasant dessert.
Persimmon Bread from Allrecipes
Ingredients
· 2 eggs
· 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
· ¾ cup white sugar
· ½ teaspoon salt
· ½ cup vegetable oil
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1 cup persimmon pulp
· ½ cup chopped walnuts
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· ½ cup raisins
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Oil a 9 x 4 inch pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, nuts, and raisins.
3. In a large bowl, blend eggs, sugar, and oil. Mix baking soda into pulp, and add to sugar mixture. Fold in flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 75 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Roasted Possum
Rett says, "I don't think so!"
CPW
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