To Hell And Back

Ah, the myth of Persephone, daughter of the enchantress Demeter. Whilst innocently gathering flowers in a field, the earth quaked and opened, revealing the lonely bachelor-god Hades, lord of the underworld. He snatched the unwilling Persephone in his chariot and carried her back to the shadow realm below.

Problem was, her mom Demeter had a big job: mistress of crops and vegetation. And she went on strike once her daughter went missing, throwing the planet into an unending blight. Zeus, ruler of Mount Olympus, saw all from on high, and demanded Brother Hades release his kidnapped prize. Z got half of his wish; because Persephone ate 6 pomegranate seeds from Hell's Kitchen, she was fated to spend 6 months a year in her captor's dark domain (fall and winter). The other 6 (spring and summer), she rejoined the living, chaperoning sowing and sunshine alongside Mother Nature.

The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight meters tall. It's native to the region from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region and the Caucasus since ancient times. Introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated in parts of California and Arizona for juice production. In the functional food industry, pomegranate is included in a novel category of exotic produce called superfruits.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is typically in season from September to January. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is in season from March to May.

The name "pomegranate" derives from Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded"). This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (e.g., German Granatapfel, seeded apple). The genus name Punica is named for the Phoenicians, who were active in broadening its cultivation, partly for religious reasons. In classical Latin, where "malum" was broadly applied to many apple-like fruits, the pomegranate's name was malum punicum or malum granatum, the latter giving rise to the Italian name melograno, or less commonly melagrana. The word "grenade" originated in 1532 from the French name for the pomegranate, la grenade. La grenade also gives us the word grenadine, the name of a kind of fruit syrup, originally made from pomegranates, which is widely used as a cordial and in cocktails.

The taste differs depending on subspecies of pomegranate and its ripeness. The pomegranate juice can be very sweet or sour, but most fruits are moderate in taste, with sour notes from the acidic tannins contained in the aril juice.

Having begun wide distribution in the United States and Canada in 2002, pomegranate juice has long been a popular drink in Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine where it particularly is used in preparation of curd rice. Grenadine syrup is thickened and sweetened pomegranate juice used in cocktail mixing. Before tomatoes arrived in the Middle East, grenadine was widely used in many Iranian foods and is still found in traditional recipes such as fesenjan, a thick sauce made from pomegranate juice and ground walnuts, usually spooned over duck or other poultry and rice, and in ash-e anar (pomegranate soup). Pomegranate may also be used to make wine.

Pomegranate aril juice provides about 16% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement per 100 ml serving, and is a good source of vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), potassium and antioxidant polyphenols.

In preliminary laboratory research and human pilot studies, juice of the pomegranate was effective in reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which lead to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Pomegranate juice has also been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotensin-converting enzyme, may inhibit viral infections and have antibacterial effects against dental plaque. Containing polyphenols which inhibit estrogen synthesis, pomegranate seed oil was effective against proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro.

November is National Pomegranate Month! Celebrate with a visit to Pom Wonderful, and have some juice shipped directly to your home or office here.
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Specialty and Gourmet Foods from Stonewall Kitchen