topic Re: Pomegranates in Recipes

Pomegranates

sfnative — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 19:00:07 GMT

As a child, a pomegranate was a super December treat. The downside was always the seeds: you'd chew on a handful for the juice, then had to find a way to remove the seeds without making a mess of it or looking unladylike.

Fast forward to now where it seems everybody and their dog on any cooking show is using them. Just saw them used in a dessert last night and a salad the night before. Cannot fathom eating the dessert: how does one enjoy it, when you have to squirrel the seed bits into a corner of your mouth or under your tongue, then attempt to find a means of removing them (into a linen napkin?).

Many will say, "Just swallow them," but I've never thought that wise.

What do you think?

Re: Pomegranates

DoneTryin — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 19:09:04 GMT

I guess I don't understand your question. The arils (seeds) are the part that are edible.

To easily de-seed a pomegranate: Score around the fruit, just cutting through the skin. Gently pull the 2 halves apart. Put one half flat side down in your hand with your fingers spread, then gently tap the back of the fruit with the back of a wooden spoon. The arils (seeds) will fall out through your fingers.

Re: Pomegranates

Puzzle Piece — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 20:32:05 GMT

As children we ate the arils. The problem was with the juice - it stained.

Re: Pomegranates

chickenbutt — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 20:41:05 GMT

I always ate the seeds too. cruncheh!

I love pomegranates. Until I recently learned better techniques, such as the one mentioned above, however, it was such a PITA to get them out that I didn't buy them for years.

I like to get out the seeds, put them in a Lock & Lock in the refrigerator, and eat them nice and cold. yum!

Re: Pomegranates

sunshine45 — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 03:41:16 GMT

always eat the entire pomegranate.....except for the skin and membranes, of course.

if you dont want to eat the seeds you can make sure to find one that is a bit soft. roll it around for a while with your palm......you want all the juices to be released. cut the top of the pomegranate off and place the small opening up to your mouth and continue to squeeze so that you get all of the deliciousness of the pomegranate without the seeds.

my s/o has a pomegranate tree. i am so lucky because he does all of the dirty work when it comes to cleaning it. he will open maybe 8 or so at a time and i keep the arils in a lock and lock container.

i make a chicken stew out of pomegranate juice/paste, onions, ground walnuts, some sugar, a splash or two of orange juice, and a heaping spoon of tomato paste......serve over basmati rice.

...

debic — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 13:30:26 GMT

I love them. I score around the top maybe 2 inches, pull that off, then you can see the sections, score them and you can pull them all apart and the seeds are easily eaten.

I'm a eat as you go.

Re: Pomegranates

sfnative — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 18:34:52 GMT

@VCamp2748 wrote:
I guess I don't understand your question. The arils (seeds) are the part that are edible.

To easily de-seed a pomegranate: Score around the fruit, just cutting through the skin. Gently pull the 2 halves apart. Put one half flat side down in your hand with your fingers spread, then gently tap the back of the fruit with the back of a wooden spoon. The arils (seeds) will fall out through your fingers.

@DoneTryin

I know how to work/deal with a pomegranate. Love the juice "part," but the white inner part is hard and, frankly, I can't chew it to bits. Never could. Also don't think that the gut is a good place for whole or partial white of the seed. So, in the end, find this unpleasant eating, when the entire seed is placed in a dessert, on a salad, etc.

Re: Pomegranates

DoneTryin — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 18:38:21 GMT

@sfnative

Not supposed to eat anything but the arils, or juice. The white part is to be discarded.

Re: Pomegranates

GingerPeach — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 19:37:47 GMT

I often eat a pomegranate in bed. It's not as messy as you might think. Well, if you are extremely fastidious, it might be but I like the derring-do part of it!

What I do is cut into the whole fruit so it is in segments (not even segments like an orange, just oddly shaped segments). Yes, I do cut through the arils/seeds.

I do not have the hand strength to pull apart a pomegranate if it's just in two pieces, I need several pieces.

I place the fruit in a shallow bowl with at least two layers of paper towel lining the bottom. Then I arm myself with a few more paper towels (or napkins), and pick out the seeds while I'm watching tv. There is hardly ever any problem with juice getting onto anything.

The seeds are completely edible, @sfnative Just chew them up and enjoy the flavor. And they are so good for you.

My pieces look kind of like this after I cut them. The membrane is easy to pull off.

Re: Pomegranates

Zhills — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 21:13:38 GMT

When I was a kid we ate pomegranates but the seeds were impossible to swallow. They were very large. Maybe the hybrids today are much better. I like the taste of them.

We also had mangoes but they were so 'hairy' they were horrible to eat. Had hair in your teeth for days. I know they have improved.

Re: Pomegranates

Honeybit — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:53:08 GMT

I've started seeing plastic containers of the seeds alone just this year -- at Sam's Club first, now in the grocery stores. I've also noticed that the "latest and greatest" way of dealing with a pomegranate is to remove the seeds in a bowl of water. I've seen it done on TV several times -- most recently on FABLife. I'm sure you can find a video demonstration on Food Network or online if you're interested.

I've never had a problem with eating the seeds -- guess it was always such hard work getting the little critters out of there that every bite was treasured!

I admire your prowess if you can eat one in bed -- I couldn't even do that with a tangerine!

Re: Pomegranates

GingerPeach — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:55:16 GMT

I don't understand the problem with eating pomegranate seeds. Don't people chew them? Are you trying to swallow them whole?

Re: Pomegranates

Zhills — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 00:46:12 GMT

The pomegranates we had as a kid may have been wild fruit. The seeds had a little juice and a big seed. Almost as big as popcorn and you couldn't chew it up!

I will have to get one and try it! I'm sure they have improved.