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Pomegranates.
Punica granatum.
 Carthage was called Punis in Roman times so the
fruit became mala punica the 'Carthaginian apple'. The species name
is granatum, (and gave us also the Spanish
Granada) and the name pomegranate, refers to its
many 'grains' or seeds. If you've ever eaten a handful of
the seeds you'll appreciate the dilemma of whether, after
eating the soft, scented pulp, you should swallow the seeds
or spit them out. Davidson points out that this is a problem
going back to classical legend.
"Persephone, daughter of Demeter the
goddess of fruit and fertility, was carried off to the
underworld by its god Hades (Pluto). Demeter, in her efforts
to force her daughter's release, prevented earthly plants
from bearing fruit (thus creating winter, a formerly unknown
phenomenon).
Persephone for her part, vowed not to eat while in Pluto's kingdom, but
eventually succumbed and ate a pomegranate. |
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She spat out all the seeds but for six,
which she swallowed. When Pluto finally gave in to Demeter,
he was allowed to keep Persephone for six months of every
year because of those seeds, and this is supposed to be the
alternation between winter and summer."
Alan Davidson, Oxford Companion to Food
Spanish sailors took the fruit on voyages because its tough
skin helped it travel well and it became established in
southern USA and in California in the 18th Century. It
travelled to Asia and is mentioned in India and China around
the first century AD. Although its seeds are spread by
birds it doesn't grow true by seed, and cuttings are the
most reliable way to propagate it.
If you get a good large pomegranate it makes collecting the
seeds easier and worthwhile (slit the skin, and scoop the
fleshy seeds out with a spoon leaving the white membrane
between, which is bitter). If you just want the juice, you
can microwave them briefly, roll the fruit hard to crush it
and the juice will flow out easily. Commercial concentrated
pomegranate juice is called grenadine.
They're a sensuous and extravagant fruit and the source
of lots of other legends but if you are eating the fruit
uncooked, remember Persephone and spit.
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