New darling of food fashion: pomegranates
Posted by
AregM
My first encounter with a pomegranate was in third grade, a number of decades ago. I don't recall exactly how many decades, but it seems to me our mail was delivered by Pony Express.
My grade school was in the Italian section of town and I sat next to a little boy named Dominick Lentini, whose immigrant family owned a family market near school. One day, sometime before Christmas, he brought in several pomegranates for "show and tell." After he explained to the class what they were, it was time to break one open and taste it.
Most of the kids were a little dubious, but I loved it. At recess Dominick gave me a whole one. We peeled off the pink leathery skin to expose the hundreds of glistening, juicy seeds, and pushed them into our mouths as the juice dripped down our jackets, onto our shirts.
Disaster.
When I took off my jacket once I got home, my mother was not, shall we say, amused. The stain on my white shirt was indelible. Try as she did, it wouldn't wash out. The shirt is long gone, but I'm convinced the stain still exists somewhere.
Moral: When eating pomegranates out of hand, clothing is optional.
The pomegranate, native to Persia (Iran) and much of the Middle East, spread to China, India, and, in the 16th century, California. It has a long, rich, and colorful history. Some cultures associate the fruit with paradise, fertility, and abundance. It is mentioned in the Old Testament, (Exodus 39:25), and again in Deuteronomy 8:8, where Moses assured his followers as they fled Egypt that they would surely find this favored fruit in the Promised Land. Homer mentions it in his writing. Its appearance in ancient mythology is most interesting:
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http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p13s02-lifo.html
New darling of food fashion: pomegranates
Posted by AregM
My first encounter with a pomegranate was in third grade, a number of decades ago. I don't recall exactly how many decades, but it seems to me our mail was delivered by Pony Express. My grade school was in the Italian section of town and I sat next to a little boy named Dominick Lentini, whose immigrant family owned a family market near school. One day, sometime before Christmas, he brought in several pomegranates for "show and tell." After he explained to the class what they were, it was time to break one open and taste it. Most of the kids were a little dubious, but I loved it. At recess Dominick gave me a whole one. We peeled off the pink leathery skin to expose the hundreds of glistening, juicy seeds, and pushed them into our mouths as the juice dripped down our jackets, onto our shirts. Disaster. When I took off my jacket once I got home, my mother was not, shall we say, amused. The stain on my white shirt was indelible. Try as she did, it wouldn't wash out. The shirt is long gone, but I'm convinced the stain still exists somewhere. Moral: When eating pomegranates out of hand, clothing is optional. The pomegranate, native to Persia (Iran) and much of the Middle East, spread to China, India, and, in the 16th century, California. It has a long, rich, and colorful history. Some cultures associate the fruit with paradise, fertility, and abundance. It is mentioned in the Old Testament, (Exodus 39:25), and again in Deuteronomy 8:8, where Moses assured his followers as they fled Egypt that they would surely find this favored fruit in the Promised Land. Homer mentions it in his writing. Its appearance in ancient mythology is most interesting: ....Continued on http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p13s02-lifo.html