Pomegranates
From the outside, pomegranates look a bit like an orange with a little crown on top. Cut them open however and you will find hundreds of juicy jelly-like seeds held together by yellow pith. Ancient beliefs that pomegranates are good for health are proving to be true, thanks to their extraordinarily high antioxidant content.
In the kitchen
Pomegranates are fairly hard work to eat raw and the pith is unpalatably astringent, so it is important to remove it all. Their main use is as a garnish, although a bowl of pomegranate seeds sprinkled with rosewater and sugar and scattered with toasted almond flakes makes a refreshing dessert.
Scatter the seeds over yogurt, cereals, rice pudding, baba ganoush, or pilafs. Try adding them to a salad of green olives, toasted walnuts, onion and parsley. The tangy flavour works with fish, lamb and poultry too. Alternatively, extract the juice to make drinks or granitas and sorbets. The juice can also be used in place of lemon or vinegar in salad dressings.
Varieties
The leathery skin ranges in colour from pearly prink to bright red. Generally larger pomegranates will have a sweeter, more developed flavour. Sweet varieties are suitable for eating raw, sour ones (if you find them) should be saved for cooking. Choose fruit that feel heavy for their size.
Preparation
Staining is a problem (the pomegranate is traditionally used for dye) so avoid getting the juice on your clothes. When using as a garnish, you rarely need the whole fruit, so spread the rest of the seeds out on a Pyrex dish, freeze until firm, then pack in freezer bags. Pomegranates can be juiced using a citrus press but juice extractors give a better result. Be sure to remove all the pith before juicing. Don't use metallic bowls to hold pomegranate juice as they could taint the flavour.
