What I learned from pomegranates

A tongue-in-cheek antidote to all of the complicated research that I read:

Pomegranates were, at one time, a fruit that I did not understand. Being from the northeast, I had never seen anyone eat one, but this did not deter my curiosity about them.

Back in the pre-internet era, the first time I attempted to eat a pomegranate, I tried to peel off the tough outer skin only to find more tough fiber on the inside interspersed with pockets of numerous seeds each surrounded by a small, delicate, dark red fluid-filled pouch that promptly burst as I tried to remove them. They are called arils.

My wood cutting board was stained a lovely shade of magenta for days after this attempt.

When I moved to northern California, I would regularly see pomegranates at the local farmer’s market and in produce departments of natural food stores during the months of November and December. I would hear from friends and students about how delicious pomegranates taste, but it was only recently when I was researching the antioxidant content of pomegranates, that I decided to revisit this fascinating fruit.

Not surprisingly, many people I know who consume pomegranates do so in the form of juice. Which raises the question: how does one juice pomegranates? I tried several juicing methods that were available in my kitchen and found that the use of a handheld citrus juicer was easiest and cleanest for me.

Here is what I did:

I cut a couple of pomegranates into quarters, placed the pomegranate quarters into the citrus squeezer one at a time, and squeezed the citrus squeezer into a large glass bowl. Out came the juice with relatively little effort and mess! So simple! And the juice was delicious - similar to cranberry juice but a lot sweeter. Both Rick and I loved it.

So, here is what I learned from this experience:

1. Pomegranates do not peel like an orange. 🙂
2. Using a nice bamboo or wood cutting board will very likely end in stains. Hmmmm….
3. My answer to pomegranate preparation was simple. This makes me wonder what other issues that can seem complicated at first may have simple answers once one educates oneself.  🙂

What simple answers are you overlooking in your life?

Has anyone juiced pomegranates with a citrus press?

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