Foto Friday – Miraculous Pomegranates
Filed under: design, Environment, Food, Foto Friday, General, health, History and Culture, Holidays, Medical Breakthroughs, Picture of the Week, Religion, Technology
It was at about 9:30 last night when I spilled the pomegranate seeds on the floor. While picking them up, one by one, I reflected first on the story of Demeter and Persephone, then on the fact that some Jewish schoolchildren are taught that there are 365 seeds in a pomegranate (the number of days in the year) while others are taught that there are 613 (the number of mitzvot or good deeds), and finally (it took some time collect them all) about the long-standing Jewish relationship with the pomegranate as a symbol of fertility and plenty. Well, it has a lot of seeds so you can see why that might be.
© Пётр Рогов
It’s hard to say where Judaism’s connection to this beautiful and fascinating fruit begins; some scholars believe is was the pomegranate, not the apple, that got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It is mentioned often in the Bible both as a fruitand as a symbol and is one with the Seven Species celebrated at Sukkot.
© RomKri
What is for certain is that the pomegranate has been in this region for thousands of years. According to the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) site, “The pomegranate is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and was cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region since ancient times.” The pomegranate features prominently in this mosaic fruit basket from the Nabatean city of Mamshit.
Photo: Pikiwiki
Also from CRFG: “The pomegranate widely cultivated throughout India and the drier parts of southeast Asia, Malaya, the East Indies and tropical Africa, and was introduced into California by Spanish settlers in 1769.” In those days, pomegranates and their juice were valued as much for their medicinal properties as for their beauty, but in modern times they were for decades nothing more than a martini mixer or an exotic decorative item.
Photo: Pikiwiki
And then researchers like Dr. Ephraim Lansky, co-founder of Israel’s Rimonest came along, with proof — as reported by ISRAEL21c — of the pomegranate’s high anti-oxidant activity: “the stuff of potential anti-cancer therapies”.
Israel wasn’t the first country to produce pomegranates for commercial export but — as always — is an innovator. Israel was first, for example to give pomegranate juice an upgrade via wineries such as Azarad and Rimon, which produce varieties such as dessert wine, port style wine and dry wine, all the while touting the fruit’s antioxidant properties.
The rise in global interest for all things Punica granatum has resulted Israel’s doubling its pomegranate growing capacity, and the establishment of companies like Pomeg-Tech that provide expertise to those wishing to get into the pomegranate growing game. Here, in case you’ve never seen it, is a picture of the fruit’s flower:
Photo: Lior Almagor, Frommycamera.com
And Israeli pomegranate innovations don’t stop there: Shoham, inventors of a new gadget, the ART – Arils Removal Tool (that’s a pomegranate seed plucker to you and me), were recently awarded the 2010 Innovation Award at Fruit Logistica Berlin, one of the major events in the fresh produce industry. Here’s a picture of the happy Shoham team. An instructional video can be found on their website – and while it can’t prevent you from dropping the finished product on the floor, I can vouch that the ART actually does the job.
Sweeter than pomegranates
What more is there to write about a wine festival? I’ve already covered the annual shindig, which takes place in the sculpture garden at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, several times in years past.
I could write about the presence of all of Israel’s top wineries and many of the more exotic mom and pop boutique establishments; about the seeming emphasis this year on Merlot-Shiraz-Cabernet blends; or the booths selling everything from sushi to gourmet cupcakes (presumably to soak up the wine).
All of that would make for interesting but familiar fodder. There was one stand out this year, however, that I’ve never seen nor tasted before: red wine made from fermented pomegranates.
Bottles of Granada wine
The Granada winery had just a small stand but it was the talk of the festival – everyone we spoke to had an opinion on the two bottles being sold – a half dry red and a dessert wine. Most found them too sweet. Jody adored it; I felt it was good for a sip but not a whole glass.
However, winery owner Avraham Kashi explained to us a glass a day of pomegranate wine is not only tasty, but good for you. Avraham’s wife drinks, he said, a glass a day at lunchtime; her cholesterol level has dropped from 260 to 90. And Avraham claims his own GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease) has cleared up after 15 years of popping Tums imported from the U.S.
Granada grows its own pomegranates on a family farm near Ashdod, of which Kashi and his brother Ovadia are second-generation “pioneers” (or so says their website). The process involves 4 months of fermentation and 8 months of aging. The wine has 15% self-contained alcohol.
There’s more information on the winery’s website.
Pomegranate economics
As we say goodbye to the ‘chagim’ period, the month-long span of Jewish holidays, a piece of news about pomegranates, a major fruit in the Rosh Hashana new fruit ritual. The pomegranate has also become a major component of the health food trade, given its antioxidants that lower blood pressure and reduce risk factors for heart disease. As a result, Israeli farmers have doubled the size of their pomegranate orchards over the past five years to 20,000 dunam from the previous 10,000 dunam, or 2,500 acres. Them’s a lot of pomegranate seeds. As a result, an oversupply of the red-seeded fruit has led to a 30% drop in prices over the last few weeks, and at the height of pomegranate season, according to a recent item in Ha’aretz.
That’s great for the Israeli consumer, who’s now buying pomegranates at the supermarket for NIS 10 a kilogram, down from NIS 14 at this time last year. So if you’re so inclined, and live in this pomegranate-heavy region, here’re are some recipes from Haim Cohen and Eli Landau, the current recipe-testers and writers for the Ha’aretz weekend magazine. They also offer the same advice as my sister for getting the seeds out of the pomegranate: Fill about half of a good-sized bowl with water; cut the pomegranate in half and place the cut side down in the water. Then just peel off the seeds in the water, which will prevent you, the peeler, from getting sprayed with ruby red pomegranate juice. It’s a a great ‘patent‘, as we say in these parts.
As for the recipes, this is the one I’m thinking about trying this week:
Pomegranate risotto
A slightly sour and wonderful-tasting dish.
half kg. rice for risotto
1.5 liters hot vegetable stock
1.5 cups pomegranate juice
seeds from 1 pomegranate
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
100 gm. butter
olive oil
4-5 tbsp. grated Parmesan
salt and pepper
In a heavy, medium-sized pot, melt 50 gr. butter with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Add the onion; saute over medium heat until it becomes transparent. Add the rice and saute for another minute or two, while stirring. Add half a cup pomegranate juice and cook until it evaporates almost completely. Add one ladle full of vegetable stock. Add salt and pepper; stir until the liquids are absorbed. Gradually add one ladle full at a time, while stirring. After about 15 minutes of cooking, when the rice is still hard, add the pomegranate seeds and continue to cook until the rice softens. The risotto should be well cooked, not al dente.
Turn off the flame and add 50 gr. butter; stir until it melts. Add the Parmesan, mix well and serve.
Foto Friday
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays
It’s the season of pomegranates, and it’s customary to eat this red-seeded fruit on Rosh Hashanah, because this is when the red seeded fruit is in season and we eat new fruits to celebrate the New Year.
I learned a great way to cut and seed pomegranates from my sister, who taught me to fill a workbowl halfway with water, cut the pomegranate in half, and put the cut side of the fruit into the water. Then pull the seeds out with your fingers immersed in the water. This way, you cut down on spurting red juice all over you, and the water doesn’t affect the seeds, either. Then you’ve got a bowlful of pomegranate seeds for sprinkling in salads, over desserts or straight (or in wine).
Urban chic witch doctor
Shuk Machane Yehuda’s resident shaman, Uzi-Eli Chezi runs his retail stall like it’s part theme park attraction, part spiritual folk remedy center. Uzi-Eli bases his natural remedies (various juice mixtures, soaps, creams, serums) on recipes from the writings of Rabbi Moses Maimonides, a North African Jewish philosopher from the Middle Ages who is also known for his contributions as a physician.
“Both of my grandfathers – who were brothers – would make holistic energy drinks,” Uzieli recently told Jerusalemite, the Jerusalem culture guide. “When I finished my army service, I spent five years traveling through 12 different countries, learning about herbs and natural medicine. I used this knowledge to create formulas for healing drinks,” which he soon began to market out of his own home, before opening his shop in the shuk five years ago.
These formulas rely heavily on gat (khat, a leaf known for its energizing properties) and etrog (citron, the local yellow citrus fruit most famous for being shaken with the lulav during the holiday of Sukkot), and he buys all of his ingredients from his neighbors in the open-air market. He also creates remedies from kombucha mushrooms, dates, fenugreek, passion fruit, goat milk yogurt, pomegranate and apple.
Uzi-Eli explains:
Drinking etrog juice leads to strength in the body, and feelings of satiation and calmness. It also improves heart health, and will make a person smell better. It helps fight depression, helps cure hot flashes in women and gives men strength and virility.
But even if one questions the true healing merits of Uzi-Eli’s concoctions, one surely must give him credit for the place he holds in Jerusalem’s cultural landscape. The guy has regulars and potential customers alike constantly approaching him (or sometimes submitting to his offers) for consultations, which almost universally end with some gat extract being schpritzed down the throat. Plus, he is just about as esoterically charming an institution as one can find in the shuk, so who cares if his schug (a traditional Middle Eastern condiment of ground fresh chili peppers and herbs) isn’t as spicy as the next guy’s?
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