The season for pomegranates is here and bright red luscious Pomegranates are slowly cropping up in the groceries. I found some yesterday at Whole Foods and grabbed two. Pomegranates are ancient crops originating in the Middle East since around the 5th century. Together with olives, grapes and figs, it was one of antiquities most important crops. As well it should be, Pomegranates are bursting with anti-oxidants, higher proportionally than other fruits, wine and green tea. Pomegranates found it’s way to America by way of the Spaniards in the 18th century. Although cultivation was common in early California gardens, commercial production of Pomegranates started only a century ago. Today, most pomegranate farms are located in the San Joaquin Valley in California, and is a rapidly growing business dominated by POM Wonderful. Suddenly, pomegranate fruits were everywhere, in great abundance. I was a little perplexed and intrigued at the same time. I saw Martha Stewart singing the praises of pomegranate syrup. Recipes on line were sprinkled with pomegranate arils. Most groceries carried them. Clubs and bars offered cocktails with pomegranate juice. Geesh. I must try this gorgeous fruit. It took me awhile to actually use the fruit. Last year, I bought some and placed it in my fruit bowl. It was a gorgeous centerpiece for my table, but alas, it went into the garbage after a couple of weeks. It will be different this time, as I’ve collected some recipes to try out from my own collection of cookbooks and online sources.

Pomegranate arils from the Wonderful fruit are sweet-tart in flavor. Pomegranate syrup is a wonderful fruity sweet liquid. Some recipes call for both, some for one. Although, I’m tempted to cook an entire menu using pomegranate, I thought better of it and decided to try one recipe a day or a week. Let’s see how it goes.

Two ways of releasing arils of a pomegranate fruit:

In a bowl of water:

Or by tapping the fruit: