Fruit of the bloom: east-to-make, healthful pomegranate recipes

Better Nutrition, Nov, 2003 by William Woys Weaver

While November may be cool, May in the Mediterranean can be relentlessly hot. But the gods have stayed the blinding sunlight with a soothing antidote: the luscious orange blossoms of the pomegranate. This is the season when, in ancient times, the wheat was harvested, thus the flowering of the pomegranates marked both an end to spring and the beginning of summer.

Perhaps for this reason the pomegranate was associated with the ancient Greek cycles of winter and summer. On Cyprus, where, according to legend, the goddess Aphrodite brought the fruit from Phoenicia, the pomegranate was a symbol of love. Pomegranate trees dedicated to Aphrodite were planted in her temple precint, which was at that time the most important temple of love in the ancient world. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the pomegranate blooms at the same time as the rose, another plant dedicated in ancient times to the goddess of love.

The Romans called the pomegranate the mala punica (Phoenician apple). Thus it would seem that at the core of the ancient myths lies a thread of truth about the origins of this delightful fruit. It grows as a small tree or shrub, which at one time sprung wild from Northern Syria into central Asia. Botanists have determined that the shrub was first domesticated during the late Bronze Age, which ,means that people have enjoyed its fruit since pre-Biblical times. And not just the fruit, for they used the flowers in botanical medicines as well as in making a red dye, and the bark of the plant was helpful in tanning the finest grades of leather.

Groves of wild pomegranates can still be found in Iran, but the Persian fruit tends to be small and seedy. This variety is best suited for making jelly because it has very little pulp in the arils, that part of the fruit that most people refer to as the seeds. But in fact, the seeds are inside the arils, which starts the inevitable discussion: Do you swallow the seeds or spit them out? While that may be a matter of personal preference, most health care professionals will tell you that the seeds may aid digestion.

The aril serves several nonmedical purposes: In India, dried arils are ground to make a red condiment called anardana. In Iran, arils are crushed and the juice is cooked to make a syrup called robb-e anur, used in Persian cookery.

Once the pomegranate proved to be popular, its cultivation spread from the Mediterranean to southern China. The Spaniards introduced it to the Americas, and when missions were established in California in the 1700s, pomegranates were among the first plants brought from Mexico by the friars. California is still the main center of pomegranate cultivation in North America.

Everywhere that the pomegranate has gone, it has found a ready place in local cookery. Recipes generally fall into three broad categories: raw arils used like chopped fruit of garnish, dried ground arils used to flavor and color foods, of pomegranate juice cooked and used in soups, syrups and sauces. In flavor, the raw juice tastes like a cross between blood oranges and highly concentrated cranberry juice, so a little bit goes a long way, and sugar is almost always used to soften its tartness.

Throughout the Middle Ages, pomegranates were valued during Lent because they could add visual interest and unusual flavor to the meatless cookery prepared during that time of year. Medical physicians didn't know that pomegranates are high ill vitamin C of that they area source of antioxidants. But they did know that pomegranates work against certain diseases, and for that reason the fruit appeared in medical books of the period.

Today there are hundreds of varieties of pomegranates. Some are yellow-skinned when ripe, some are rose-pink, others wine-red. Most have been bred to be juicy, and there are even seedless varieties, although they are not readily available in the United States.

But the pomegranate offers more than just flavor--it is truly a health food whose value has been proven for thousands of years. And it is surprising to see the range of dishes this versatile fruit can grace. The best advice: Buy the fruit as soon as it is in season in the fall, then juice it in a fruit juicer. The juice can be frozen and used all year-round.

Most of us think of pomegranates as an adjunct to Christmas--and it is available fresh only later in the year in the United States--but year-round there's nothing like their refreshing tang. So with winter's chill, welcome a bowl heaped with the ruby-red tones of pomegranates.

Note: For more information, contact the Pomegranate Council, www.pomegranates.org.

Pomegranate Power

Pomegranates are rich in polyphenols, which reduce the oxidation of LDL ("bad") cholesterol that causes plaque buildUp in the arteries. Indeed, pomegranate juice contains more polyphenols than red or white wine green tea and various juices, including grape, cranberry, blueberry, apple, orange and grapefruit. Besides heart disease, oxidation has been associated with several conditions, including cancer.