Pomegranate

I am rather embarressed and also thrilled to have recently discovered the humble pomegranate. Of course I had heard of them, but I had no idea what they looked like or how they tasted. Darling gormet hubby whipped me up a lovely goats cheese and pomegranate salad on the weekend, and I was amazed. How stunningly beautiful! What a strangely divine flavour!
Last night I got the other half out of the fridge (looking not quite so divine) and pulled it apart and ate it. It just tasted like it was so good for me. And strangely
enough reminded me of Lilly Pilly fruit which comes from a native Australian tree.

We had one in our back yard in Sydney and I once made lilly pilly jelly with them. For those who don't know, they are small and have a white almost chalky flesh with a largish seed in the middle. Probably why they never caught on as an eating fruit. And I wasn't the only one who thought so. Remi's first words on trying the pomegranate was that it tasted like lilly pilly.

An investigation into pomegranates on Wikipedia showed me both the history of the pomegranate and the health benefits. Very high in vitamin C and high in Tannins that are supposed to be very good for you. And I think it is this combination (Vit C and tannins) that links the two fruit. With both of them it felt like I should eat them, I could almost taste the health benefits. Which I suppose answers the question I asked Matt "I wonder what made someone first eat one of these?". It seems that we have an instinct to taste things (particularly such beautiful things) and an innate knowledge of what is good for us.

And now I get all those images of pomegrantes that I have seen over the years. I told you I was slightly embarressed!