I am a pomegranate lover and this year I have had the best pomegranates in memory. Whole Foods has had the most wonderful fruits for the last few weeks....big, ripe and juicy. Even though the Pomegranate Council promotes a no-mess eating strategy, I still go at the old fashioned way; I don a dark sweatshirt, spread out some old papers on the kitchen tables, pick out the seeds (which I just learned are called arils) and chew them for the juice.

A mess but incredibly delicious....

Pomegranate is a new fruit for me, and I just love it. I agree that they seem better this year than ever. Was it the heat?

here too, Jim and Marion. There are piles of them everywhere. I like them just spooned around a really nice salad, and then drizzled with olive oil, but there are lots of ways to enjoy them.

Di

How do you tell if it's ripe? Or overripe?

quote:

How do you tell if it's ripe? Or overripe?

Good question....see below. The stock at Whole Foods has been unusually consistent....but at $2 per fruit more expensive than usual. But they have been just about perfect....


Selection & Storage

Pomegranates are shipped ripe and ready to eat. Look for fruit that is heavy with juice and has a thin but tough skin that is not broken. When fully ripe, they will make a metallic sound when tapped. Avoid pomegranates that have noticeable cracks on their skin, since this is a sign that they were picked too late and are overripe. The pithy membrane that surrounds the seeds should not be too prominent, meaning that the seeds should be abundant as well as full of juice. The seeds should also be tender.

Thanks Jim.. I like putting the seeds on my salads. Problem with part of the directions above is you won't know about the membrane until you've bought the thing and cut into it. I'll pick some up at Whole Foods on Friday.

I love pomegranates. I grew up in the Central Valley of California. Several people had trees in their yards. You could find them all around falling on the sidewalks and alleys.

And it just happened that there is a blog entry on them today from SF. The pictures are gorgeous.

My husband came home today and said that he had bought two "Indian Fruits". He was quite pleased with himself but I hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about.

Oh, pomegranates! They are beautiful. The biggest ones I think I've ever seen! We like them juiced. It is a colossal pain-in-the-you-know-what, but nothing is better than fresh pomegranate juice. The stuff in the bottles keep me going, but my husband holds out for the real thing.

Incidentally, has anyone else heard them called "Indian Fruit"?

Earline

Earline,
How in the world do you "juice" a pomegranate at home?

Charity

>>Indian fruits<<

Probably because they originated on the Indian sub-continent....

>>the stuff in bottles<<

I'm with your husband...for me, the juice doesn't hold a candle to the real thing.

We had a lot of fruit on our tree at the rental house in the desert. Alas, it is done now and the dang fruit rats finished them off while renters were here last week. My dogs keep the rats away when we are here . They have been very good! I do think they like the heat.

In our grocery stores a huge shipment has arrived of pomegranates. I have never scene so many pomegranates,and they are pretty red! You can get 2 for $4 dollars. I opened up one last night and the seeds are a deep ruby red! So Sweet.

I wonder can you grow a pomegranate tree in Florida?


CigB

quote:

Originally posted by CigB:
I wonder can you grow a pomegranate tree in Florida?

A colleague who teaches in Florida has one in her school garden--but it hasn't borne fruit yet. I have one on my windowsill at school that we grew from seed last year. It's 4 inches tall.

In Israel, I bought fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice from street vendors. They use regular pressing-style juicers, with a sieve to catch the pits. Fabulous stuff.

You can wrap a bunch of seeds in cheesecloth (several layers) and use a rolling pin to squeeze them. Be sure to have the whole mess on a tray with a lip or a in glass baking pan. Don't use a reactive metal pan as the juice is quite acidic.

You can also make a "bag" out of the cheesecloth tying the four corners together. Put a bowl under the "bag". Insert a stout stick into the knot and start twisting the stick while someone holds the bag steady. The juice will run out.

I can just imagine what a mess I would make trying to do this! I had little red dots all over that part of my kitchen yesterday just seeding one under water.

Earline,
Thats funny I have not heard pomegranates called indian fruits but as kids we only knew them as Chinese Apples. I haven't had one in years but have many fond memories of sitting on our front steps sucking the juice from the seeds. My grandmother would give them to us and it would keep me and my sisters busy for a couple of hours.

I would like to get some for nostalgias sake. Besides just eating the seeds, what are some other ways they can be used?
Colleen

Well, I bought a couple on Friday to put the seeds on my salad - yumm. And it turns out, Becky likes them too - another fruit she's willing to eat; there's a light at the end of the junk food tunnel.

What a great find these pomegranates were, I had a dinner party and made a salad using baby greens, mandarin orange section, homemade raspberry dressing, topped with pomegranate seeds, and roasted pecans coated in cinnamon and sugar spice. For dinner Grilled ribeye steaks with the fixings and for desert homemade coffee Kailua cheese cake.


I am recovering today.

CIGB

Charity, I just cut them in half lengthwise, scoop the seeds and white stuff (it probably has a name, but I don't know what it is called), and painstakingly work the seeds with my fingers over a glass bowl.

Takes FOREVER! I like the sound of Dean's method. I am willing to try that. They are still sitting on the kitchen counter. I have had so much to do the last couple of days. I know how much time it takes, so I have designated tomorrow afternoon for the task.

I asked my husband was it sub-continent Indian or American Indian. He didn't know. His mother was from South Carolina, and he said she always called them that. I would go with sub-continent.

I've heard that you can actually eat the seeds. Anybody have any input on that?

E

I went to a party Saturday night, and someone had made a cold barley salad with pomegranate seeds in it - delicious! The seeds tasted great and added nice texture to the salad. I'd had the juice before but never the whole seeds.

We lived in Sacramento for a couple of years when I was young, and I remember several pomegranate trees in the neighborhood. We used to love to peel and eat pomegranates - there was just something about those tiny seeds... I still like them, but they are messy!

Pomegranates! I love them. When I was a kid in Illinois my mom always bought a couple for us to enjoy. Nobody else I knew ate them.

It was usually the season for persimmons too, so those two fruits are linked in my palate's memory. (I have a nice, soft persimmon on my counter; it'll be ready to eat tomorrow!)

Whole Foods has had the best Pomegranates this year. It is quite a task removing the seeds, but well worth it.

Okay - here's another question for you pomegranate experts; how do I remove the juice stains from my cutting board ?

Kim, you just redecorate your kitchen in tones that will complement the pomegranate.