Pomegranates: More Than a Marketing Campaign
Unless you have been living under a rock or have super powers that make you impervious to the ploys of marketing campaigns, you are probably aware that pomegranates are going to help you to live forever. Well, maybe not forever-ever, but it seems it's possible that they can extend your life by lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease, fighting prostate cancer and even potentially fighting the bacterial growth of dental plaque. It may have taken us until 2002 to catch onto the importance of pomegranates, but like many things that we think are the new thing, pomegranates have been an integral part of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean diets for several millennia.
Marketing campaigns, health benefits, and thousands of years of history aside, the pomegranate is a distinctive and lively fall fruit that can add a dimension of color and vibrant flavor to many a dish. The pomegranate, a round fruit with tough reddish skin, is not eaten whole but is grown rather for the contents of its interior: dozens upon dozens of red, juice-filled seeds. The pomegranate gets its name from Latin for seeded apple. But it has been cultivated for several thousand years under many names, beginning in Persia and the Himalayas, later spreading to the Mediterranean.
In the late 1700s, the pomegranate was introduced to the Americas where it is now widely produced in both California and Arizona. Thanks to those thoughtful settlers, growing up in California I had the pleasure of knowing the pomegranate intimately. My grandfather had a pomegranate tree in his backyard, which became a part of our childhood mischief (like red wine, pomegranate stains are nearly impossible to remove), as well as my early culinary experience.
Every year when the crop of the fruit reached its peak, my grandfather would make pomegranate jelly, a process that involved the tedious business of removing the seeds from many pomegranates, cooking the seeds to extract the juices, boiling the juice with sugar and pectin to make the liquid that would become the final jelly. The end result was a crimson spread whose distinct sweet and tart flavors would keep us satisfied through the holidays in and well into the new year.
Having such fond childhood associations, no one could have been happier than I when a certain pomegranate juice hit the market early this decade. Remembering those little seeds bursting on my young palate, staining my mouth and hands a vibrant red, I could not wait to try a drink that would present the same appeal but without the mess. Although the juice promised longer life and tasted of an old friend, ultimately the bottle did not quite do justice to the experience (for it’s a total experience) of eating the real fruit.
There is nothing like rediscovering an old favorite. And in doing so with the pomegranate, I discovered better ways of preparing it. Although it can be fun to break open the fruit and pick at the seeds in a painstakingly slow fashion, the easier way lies in a large bowl of water. By first scoring the fruit and then submerging in the bowl of water while breaking it open, the white pith floats to the top where it can easily be skimmed off and discarded. Once the seeds are out, the can be strained and then used in any manner of ways.
Classic culinary uses from the Middle East range from soups and salads to braises. A classic Persian dish uses the juice combined with walnuts for a braising liquid for chicken, the end result a chicken the color of coq au vin but more vibrant and tasting of sweet and tart, with a nutty, viscous sauce. Greeks like to use pomegranates in many ways, particularly a wheat berry salad a bit like taboule. In modern Western cuisine, the pomegranate is a favorite for sauces, particularly when paired with the game meats of fall or heartier fare such as a glaze for lamb or beef.
If their unique culinary attributes and rich history were not enough, pomegranates have been labeled a “superfruit”: a family of fruit so rich in anti-oxidants that consumption has proven to fight many a physical ailment. So the marketing buzz of several years ago has spawned a sensation that resulted in everything pomegranate, from energy bars to cocktails. But this ancient fruit is actually a fad that has sustained thousands of generations of kitchens, and will likely continue to have a place in modern times, be it in a jar of jelly, a bottle of juice, or in a crimson steak of sauce at this year’s fall table.
Made with sun-dried tomato, cucumber, salt, basil, parsley, pomegranate, feta cheese, lemon, butter, olive oil
Serves/Makes: 6
- 1 cup wheat groats
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 sun-dried tomato halves
- 1 medium cucumber
- salt
- 1 handful basil
- 1 handful flat leaf parsley
- 1/2 pound feta cheese
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- black pepper
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add wheat groats with salt and stir to combine. Return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a cup of water to a boil. Pour over sundried tomatoes in a small bowl and let sit for 20 minutes until tomatoes are rehydrated.
Slice cucumber in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove seeds. Slice each half in half crosswise. Take each quarter and slice lengthwise in four pieces about 1/2 inch wide. Then slice again to form pieces about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. Spread cucumber out on a paper towel and sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp of salt. Let sit.
Next, rinse basil and parsley and pat dry. Slice basil crosswise into a very thin chiffonade. Chop parsley finely. Add parsley and basil to a medium bowl. Crumble feta and add to bowl.
Fill a large bowl with cold water. Score pomegranate. Submerge pomegranate in water and break into pieces letting seeds sink to the bottom and pith float to the top. Remove pith and skin. Drain seeds in a colander. Add pomegranate seeds to bowl with herbs and feta.
After cucumber has been sitting for 15 minutes, pat dry and add to bowl. Remove sun-dried tomatoes from water. Thinly slice and add to bowl. When groats are cooked, stir in butter and oil with some cracks of black pepper.
Add groats to bowl with pomegranate and the rest. Add lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Stir all to combine. This can be eaten alone or is an excellent accompaniment to grilled lamb or chicken.
Amy's Note: Wheat groats can be found at Whole Foods and other specialty markets.
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