As you well know, at Come and Cook with Us we are all for speed and efficiency in the kitchen. Why waste time when cooking if you can get a healthy meal to the kitchen quickly? But as in everything else in life, there are exceptions to the rule; and, that extra time you need to prepare a dish – or a fruit – is worth every minute. This week’s featured fruit, the pomegranate, is worth every extra moment you spend on it.
Back in my hometown in Italy, the pomegranate is known as the fruit that got Adam and Eve in trouble. If that story is true, it is easy to understand why she couldn’t resist. In addition to being juicy, delicious, and beautifully packed with bright red seeds, pomegranates are also a fruit super food full of vitamins and cancer-fighting antioxidants. But, boy, do they make you work for it.
Please don’t groan at the thought of peeling this delicacy; there are a few things you can do to make eating pomegranates much easier. (And they do not include buying the already peeled fruits at Trader Joes!) When buying a pomegranate pick large and heavy fruits with a bright-colored and shiny skin. Cut off the top of the fruit and then cut along the outside skin lengthwise into sections that you can break off, exposing the seeds jammed between thin white layers of pith. Breaking off the seeds is a great job for little fingers, can increase children’s fine motor skills, and certainly helps to develop a greater appreciation for this fruit.
Another option is to cut the fruit in half, then submerge each half in a large bowl of water. While the fruit is in the water, pull apart the pith and separate the seeds. The seeds will fall to the bottom of the bowl, while the pith floats to the top where it can be easily scooped out. An added benefit is that you avoid the bright-red food stains that tend to collect on your tabletop or your sleeves. The third option, which has never worked for me, is to break the fruit into sections and then tap the outside skin of the fruit. For those who have mastered this method, the seeds simply fall off… Good luck with that, and let me know how you’ve done it if it works!
Either way, once you have a bowl of pomegranate seeds, there are many ways to eat them, including in your yogurt, on your cereal, as an addition to your salad or as a snack. Or, take some inspiration from Middle Eastern cuisine and prepare pomegranate chutneys and molasses and pair them with many different delicious dishes.
Next time you’re at the super market, go ahead and venture into the unknown and buy a pomegranate fruit. You won’t regret it.
Come and cook with us!
Kathrin
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