The Foodie File: Pomegranate Q & A
Q. What part of the pomegranate do you eat?
A.
You eat the arils. These are the little ruby red pods with a nutty seed in the centre. Eat the whole aril including the seed.
Q. How do I open a pomegranate?
A.
Method1
To get at the fruit some people like to score the outside, submerge the fruit into bowl big of water, break apart the sections and pop out the arils. They will drop to the bottom and the pith (the white part) will float at the top to be easily scooped up and discarded. Then drain the whole thing and ta da – pomegranate arils.
Method 2
In most middle eastern countries it seems that they use the smack the fruit method; sore the fruit and break in half along the natural section, over a bowl crack the thick skin a bit to loosen the arils then take a spoon and while holding the fruit aril side down over the bowl smack the skin all over, the arils should fall right out (you may have to pick out some pith but you won’t have wet arils which helps to preserve them longer).
Method 3
Alternatively you can just pry it open and leisurely pick at it after dinner while eating some Brie cheese and staining your fingers pink.
Q. How do I get pomegranate juice?
A.
This is an easier one – you can buy it everywhere now bottled, look for straight up juice and not cocktail. Pomegranates although tart, do not require sugar to be palatable like cranberry juice. If you want to juice your own, they work amazingly well in a juicer, but not the kind that you put the whole fruit in, the kind that juices and orange or a lemon. It is easy to do and actually yields quite a bit of juice, the draw back is that pomegranates are messy and they stain and you will get it everywhere.
Q. What the heck do I do with these arils now?
A.
Ok – lots of options, here are a few of my favourites.
1- the above mentioned with a soft cheese
2 – sprinkled in a salad
3 – use the juice to make a salad dressing
4 – sprinkle over a sliced pomegranate glazed pork roast
5 – garnish for an appetizer as in:
Goat cheese on endive spears with ruby pomegranate arils
6 – there is an excellent Mexican dish, stuffed poblano peppers in walnut sauce sprinkled with pomegranate seeds; it’s the red white and green of Mexican flag
7 – in yogurt with pistachios and honey for breakfast or dessert
8 – layered in a trifle
9 – garnishing a Christmas Wreath Cookie or Chocolate Petit Four
10 – Really I could go on and on….
Q. What about that cocktail you went on about yesterday?
A.
Yes of course:
In a flute glass pour about ¾ oz pomegranate juice, ½ oz Grand Marnier top with prosecco or champagne garnish with pomegranate arils (unfortunately you can no longer get gold flakes in Canada)
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Christine,
They are very expensive how can you tell if you have a good one? I noticed a lovely outside, all red and shiney, does not mean plenty of fruit once it is opened. Once I cut it open how do you store leftovers? Is it best to just seed one section or seed it all and store the arils.
Also I cleaning out a cupboard yesterday – how do you know if dried fruit is spoiled? I noticed tiny white dots on the dried dates and apriots in my pantry. Is that mold? There was no best before date on the packages. But isn’t dried fruit perserved?
Eastern-Ont-nosh-maker
Hey Nosh Maker,
Yes it is true, sometimes pomegranates look beautiful on the outside and are disppointing on the inside. By your description you are looking for the right stuff. Also pick it up and make sure it feels weighty for a better yield.
The dry fruit thing – I’m guessing not mold, most commercially dried fruit is treated with and acid teh kills bacteria and prevents mold. Most likely it is crystalizing sugar, like how your honey gets when it goes hrad in the jar. The fruit is probably drying out in your cupboard and the sugar is coming to the surface and crystalizing. If I have dry fruit that I am not using any time soon – I find it keeps better in teh freezer and stays nice and plumb.
Another great thing for pomegranates that I tried recently was using them to top off a pavlova – just a pavlova base with whipped cream and pomegranate seeds. The tartness really sets off the sweetness of the pavlova.
You can try this recipe from our sister site, homemakers.com:
http://www.homemakers.com/homemakers/client/en/Food/DetailRecipe.asp?idRe=20361