Each of us has a trigger that prompts our fondest fall memories to return.  For many, it is the turning of the leaves; for others it is the sight of orange and yellow squash. For some it may just be the appearance of Halloween candy in the stores.  My trigger is the arrival of pomegranates in the grocery store.  I have always associated their appearance with Thanksgiving & Halloween, although pomegranates never played a role in either actual celebration while I was growing up.

I can remember going to the grocery store with Mom in October, and seeing these leathery, red, exotic fruits, usually in a display near the squash, pumpkins and candied apple supplies.  Dad would occasionally bring us one or two home from Detroit where he worked. I suppose that they were more readily available there than in our small town.  I do remember them as being very expensive and considered a rare treat.  I would spend hours breaking one fruit apart, getting excited if I could get one large cluster of juicy seeds in a single bite.  I never minded crunching on the little seeds.  I have always known that sometimes you have to take the bitter with the sweet!

These days, pomegranates are more available and affordable.  Just as we have come to accept the availability of tropical fruits such as kiwi and papaya, and the presence all year of fruits & vegetables such as watermelon and corn-on-the-cob that we used to get only Ain season@, we are not surprised to find pomegranates at our local grocer.  But the best thing about this fruit, is that we have not become jaded by its presence all year: it is still very much a seasonal fruit, and is still able to represent a particular time of year for me and instil a sense of nostalgia.                        

The pomegranate has played a seductive and romantic role throughout history.  Its name comes from the Latin Pomum granatum, which means “apple of many seeds”. Deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics dating back from 1567 BC relate poems exalting the fruit, and the ancient Greeks consider the pomegranate an integral part of their tale of Persephone and her mother Demeter, goddess of nature.  When Pluto abducted Persephone, Zeus interceded and demanded that he return Persephone to earth as long as she hadn’t eaten anything.  Unfortunately, she had eaten six pomegranate seeds, so a compromise had to be reached: she could only return for six months and had to spend the other six in Hades.  Demeter still had the last word; she created six months of winter and six months of summer.  It is this association of the pomegranate with death and rebirth that later made it a Christian symbol of Resurrection.  In Judaism, the pomegranate is a symbol of fertility, relating to the first commandment of the Torah, to be fruitful and multiply.  In Arabic folklore and poetry, it is a symbol for the female breast, and in modern Greece, pomegranates represent agatha, the good things of life.

The pomegranate is a native of the Persia/Central Asia area, but spread in ancient times to the Mediterranean region.  It is widely cultivated in India, the East Indies and tropical Africa.  The tree was introduced into California by Spanish settlers in 1769 and is now grown in the drier parts of California and Arizona.  The fruit are available in October and November.

A perfect fruit should have an un-bruised skin with a bright red or dark pink colouring.  Choose fruit that are heaviest for their size.  They can be refrigerated for up to 2 months, but will only keep for a few days at room temperature.  The seeds will keep very well in a plastic container in the freezer.  Pomegranates are rich in potassium and a good source of vitamin C.