The pomegranate is the crazy aunt of fruits. It’s talented and
passionate but misunderstood. But it has not always been this way. The
scabby orb’s blood-red image decorates the temple of Solomon and the
robes of priests, its juice is imbued with medicinal properties, and
its flavor is integral to many Old World cuisines. But in the New
World, the pomegranate’s reviews have been mixed. Its flesh, tart
enough to make you wince, is buried among bitter membranes and crunchy
seeds. Its juice is quick to splatter and stain. Getting to know the
pomegranate’s virtues is messy, painstaking work. It’s worth the
trouble.
The pomegranate runs in many of the same circles as the grape. The
two fruits co-star in several biblical verses, including more than one
suggesting the presence of pomegranates and grapes as an indicator of
good land. Great chefs sprinkle pomegranate seeds atop their finished
dishes, knowing that a single seed is like a sip of wine in the mouth,
creating fireworks when chewed into rich food, from stuffed pork loin
to mushroom linguini.
Brought to the Americas by Spanish settlers, pomegranates grow in
the Southwest and Mexico and ripen from September to January. The
fruit’s shelf-life can be extended for months by wrapping them in paper
towels and storing them in a paper bag at the bottom of the fridge
where there isn’t much activity. You want to leave the wrapped
pomegranates undisturbed, with as few vibrations as possible. Like
bottles of wine, the less they’re disturbed, the better they’re
preserved.
When selecting pomegranates, look for firm fruits with rounded,
rather than sunken, skins. Avoid super-sized fruits, which typically
don’t have as much flavor. Like wine-grapes, pomegranates cultivated
for size produce a more watery fruit, with less evident terroir.
So choose from batches of baseball-sized fruits. Pomegranates don’t
have a fragrance when ripe. The best way to determine the quality or
ripeness of a particular batch is to open one. If the seeds are
brilliant ruby red, juicy and sweet, then get some more from the same
batch for long-term storage.
Many recipes pair pomegranate with walnuts. Historically, they’re
grown in the same regions, and culinarily, the flavors complement each
other beautifully. Walnuts are astringent and oily, while pomegranates
have a penetrating acidic sweetness. Pomegranate seeds are used to
accent sopa de nuez, a Spanish creamy walnut soup; they’re
sprinkled atop chiles en nogada, a Mexican dish of stuffed
chiles and walnut sauce; and they’re ground with walnuts and red pepper
to make muhammara, a Persian dip.
Perhaps the most famous pairing of pomegranate and walnuts is
fesenjan, a meat stew with ground walnuts and pomegranate juice.
Fesenjan can be found throughout the Middle East and Central
Asia, from Georgia to Iran, Armenia to Azerbaijan. Fesenjan is
typically made with chicken or lamb. I’ve tested batches with turkey
and wild duck without complaints.
To make fesenjan, start by browning your meat in a pan with
oil. Large pieces should be cut into inch-cubes; chicken drumsticks can
be left whole. Remove skin from poultry.
For each pound of meat, lightly toast two cups of walnuts in a hot
pan, stirring often. When cool, use a food processor or otherwise grind
the nuts into a dry paste. For each pound of meat, slice one large
onion (or two medium onions) in half lengthwise, and then slice each
half thinly end to end.
After the meat has given up its water and browned, add the onions
and fry until they become translucent. Add the ground walnuts and four
cups of pomegranate juice. Reduce heat to simmer and add seven cardamom
pods (or a teaspoon of ground cardamom), a teaspoon each of cinnamon
and salt, and half a teaspoon of black pepper. Add a cup of chicken
stock and enough water to submerge the meat. As it simmers, add water
as necessary to cover the meat. After an hour, add the juice of one
lemon. Many recipes suggest adding a little sugar. I don’t think that’s
necessary, but add a tablespoon if you want.
After another hour, when the meat is falling-apart tender and fully
impregnated with the pomegranate-walnut sauce, cease adding water and
allow the sauce to reduce, stirring often to prevent burning. When the
sauce is thick as melted ice cream, remove from heat and serve
fesenjan with rice.
Given the current health craze attached to pomegranate juice (some
of its constituents are thought to help prevent cancer, diabetes, heart
disease, prostate problems, and viral infections), you should have no
trouble finding it at your local store. Concentrated juice, aka syrup,
is widely available in Middle Eastern, Persian, and Central Asian
markets. The syrup can be diluted with water into juice.
In addition to its role in dishes like fesenjan, pomegranate
juice makes a good base for a marinade and can be used in salad
dressings or as a mixer.
The word “pomegranate,” a combination of the Latin words for “apple”
and “seed,” literally means “seeded apple.” Although apples and
pomegranates have little in common, their external resemblance may help
explain why modern depictions of the forbidden fruit that tempted Eve
often look like an apple, while many biblical scholars believe it was a
pomegranate. Yet another example of the pomegranate’s perennially
misunderstood status.
And while the pomegranate may have gotten Adam and Eve banished from
the garden, in another myth, eating pomegranate seeds forced the
goddess-borne Persephone to spend half of her life in hell.
Either the pomegranate is really bad news, or the gods are really
jealous of it. You decide.
