Monday, November 12, 2007
My new favorite fruit
The lovely and beautiful pomegranate. If I had been Persephone, there would be winter all year. No way I could have limited myself to three arils. What's an aril? Glad you asked. The easy answer is "the seed-looking things in a pomegranate". It would not, however, be the accurate answer. Technically, the pomegranate IS the seed and all the small jewel-like "inner seeds" are arils. Say it with me....are-el (short e). What do they taste like? Glad you asked. They're a little tangy and tart, a little sweet. There is an inner tough bit, rather like inside bits of a blackberry. Certainly not inedible, but noticeable. Hey, it's fiber. Don't you need a little more fiber in your diet? Of course. Nearly everyone needs to show a little more love to "nature's broom".
Here, we have a picture of a lovely and beautiful pomegranate that I'm about to dispatch.
Pomegranate juice stains. And it's about the color of the outside of the berry. So should you re-do your kitchen in red? Nope, you should be properly equipped. My favorite pomegranate setup is
I also use a cutting board, which is below. My primary tools, however are the pom, a knife--big or small, your choice, but you'll only be making 6 cuts, so I prefer a paring knife--and a bowl of water, about 2/3 full, I'd say.
After you wash your pom, slice off one end, like this
See, the arils are already looking out at you. As you slice off the ends, you may well slice through an aril, releasing the juice. This cutting board was red/burgundy when I got it. I can grind arils into it and it won't change color. Not so for my white or wooden boards; they stay safely in the cabinet when I'm handling poms.
Now the other end
Now you want to make 4 vertical cuts on the sides. You're not looking to quarter the pom,; you're barely cutting the outside; just to score the skin.
This will allow you to break open the pom and I cannot say this enough: this is why you have the bowl of water. The more you open the pom up, the more likely you are to rupture arils. Just hold the pom under water and break apart. The pieces may or may not come apart at the cuts you've made, but it will come apart. As you break it up, you'll squeeze some arils and they'll burst. Into the water. If you water is pink by the time you're done, no big deal. No crying over spilled pom juice if you're working in water.
A little blurry, but you'll have something like
Inside the pom, there are arils, thin white stuff and thick white stuff. Just pick/rub/brush the arils off these and into the water. As you work each piece, it will break further. This actually makes things easier.
Just let the arils fall into the water. Throw the membranes in the disposal, trash or compost. As you're working through each piece, you'll have arils and some membrane in the water. Just scoop out the membrane pieces when you think of it.
See, isn't that pretty?
this too
Looks like a fruit of jewels, doesn't it? Just looking at all these lovely arils makes me want to eat a big handful, how about you?
After you get all your pieces worked through, you can simply scoop the arils out
And put them in a container.
Now, you can eat them, put them in recipes, decorate a salad. My favorite way to enjoy them is just as they are. I could make a syrup or juice, I could freeze them, but I'm a simple girl and I like my fruit simple.
Here, we have a picture of a lovely and beautiful pomegranate that I'm about to dispatch.
Pomegranate juice stains. And it's about the color of the outside of the berry. So should you re-do your kitchen in red? Nope, you should be properly equipped. My favorite pomegranate setup is
I also use a cutting board, which is below. My primary tools, however are the pom, a knife--big or small, your choice, but you'll only be making 6 cuts, so I prefer a paring knife--and a bowl of water, about 2/3 full, I'd say.
After you wash your pom, slice off one end, like this
See, the arils are already looking out at you. As you slice off the ends, you may well slice through an aril, releasing the juice. This cutting board was red/burgundy when I got it. I can grind arils into it and it won't change color. Not so for my white or wooden boards; they stay safely in the cabinet when I'm handling poms.
Now the other end
Now you want to make 4 vertical cuts on the sides. You're not looking to quarter the pom,; you're barely cutting the outside; just to score the skin.
This will allow you to break open the pom and I cannot say this enough: this is why you have the bowl of water. The more you open the pom up, the more likely you are to rupture arils. Just hold the pom under water and break apart. The pieces may or may not come apart at the cuts you've made, but it will come apart. As you break it up, you'll squeeze some arils and they'll burst. Into the water. If you water is pink by the time you're done, no big deal. No crying over spilled pom juice if you're working in water.
A little blurry, but you'll have something like
Inside the pom, there are arils, thin white stuff and thick white stuff. Just pick/rub/brush the arils off these and into the water. As you work each piece, it will break further. This actually makes things easier.
Just let the arils fall into the water. Throw the membranes in the disposal, trash or compost. As you're working through each piece, you'll have arils and some membrane in the water. Just scoop out the membrane pieces when you think of it.
See, isn't that pretty?
this too
Looks like a fruit of jewels, doesn't it? Just looking at all these lovely arils makes me want to eat a big handful, how about you?
After you get all your pieces worked through, you can simply scoop the arils out
And put them in a container.
Now, you can eat them, put them in recipes, decorate a salad. My favorite way to enjoy them is just as they are. I could make a syrup or juice, I could freeze them, but I'm a simple girl and I like my fruit simple.
Labels: food porn
