Pomegranate: What makes it a super-fruit?
updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:34
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but watch out, apple, there’s another charming red fruit that might just steal your spotlight!
The health benefits enclosed in the little arils of a pomegranate won’t mean much unless you know how to select the best ones before munching on them. When stocking up on pomegranates, be sure to choose the heavy, ripe ones. You’ll know it’s ripe when you hear a metallic sound as you tap the shiny crust of the fruit.
To shed the arils, cut the pomegranate in half and pour them into a bowl. Grab your wooden spoon to squirt out the juice. What pomegranates are lacking in the vitamin C department, they make up with antioxidants. Since this ruby red fruit tastes as delicious as it looks, we suggest drinking your pomegranate juice fresh and sugarless.
TWO BASIC POMEGRANATE RECIPES
1. Homemade grenadine:
Remove the arils of five pomegranates and mash them with a wooden spoon (be careful, it stains your clothes!). Mix with 500g of sugar and let it sit for 12 hours. Add 300 ml of water and bake in a saucepan over low heat for 20 minutes. Let it cool and then filter well. Reheat the syrup for 10 minutes at 90°C and pour into a clean bottle. Store in the refrigerator.
2. Pomegranate pie:
Take a pomegranate and mix it with four apples, sliced. Spread butter on a pie dish and layer it with five sheets of pastry. Put the fruits on the dish and cover them with another five pastry layers. Feel free to add some extra butter slices. Bake for 25 minutes in the oven at 250°C.
Now that you know the benefits of pomegranates and the different ways to enjoy the fruit, what are you waiting for? We are definitely including these mighty fruits into our 2015 diet!
Sylvia Vaisman
