Culinary Exploration: February

Month: February

Food: Pomegranate

History: The pomegranate is a very ancient fruit and even mentioned in the Book of Exodus. The name "pomegranate" derives from Latin pōmum "apple" and grānātus "seeded" (from grānum "grain"). This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages. It is native to the region of  Persia and was introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769.

Description: The pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall. It is between a lemon and a grapefruit in size, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, with thick reddish skin and around 600 seeds. Each seed has a surrounding water-laden pulp  — the aril  — ranging in color from white to deep red or purple. This is the edible part of the fruit.

Taste Test: It is quite a process to get into the fruit and get the seeds out to eat.  We all enjoyed this fruit. It was sweet, with a little tang.  They do have a small seed inside that you eat, they kept getting stuck in my teeth, but the flavor of the fruit was good.  I would definitely buy the Pom juice I’ve seen at the store now and understand why it’s so expensive.  It’s alot of work to get the juice out and would take quite a few pomegranates to get a full glass.

Before

After

We did a little research and found the best way to get the seeds out is to cut the pom in half and then bang out the seeds with a spoon over a bowl of water so you don’t squish the delicate seeds.

Tyler really liked the pomegranate.  He probably ate half of it himself – which is alot of little seeds.