Or DRINK it more precisely!!!
This long-advertised issue comes courtesy of a guy who works at Rick’s Produce, a lovely farm stand in L.A.’s Original Farmer’s Market on Fairfax. As you probably know, I’ve been on the road a while and thus haven’t run into him again: when I learn his name, I’ll update you.
One day, a year ago or so, while I was busy squeezing Buddha’s hands at the market, he, apropos of nothing, stormed my cottagecore inner sanctum and asked if I’d like to see an old farmer’s trick for snacking on hot days. When he held up a pomegranate, I stiffened: I don’t know about you, but all the crazy methods out there for knocking pomegranate halves around, turning them inside out, seeding them underwater… It’s enough! It’s really enough!!! Then try prying all the pokey bits from your teeth for the rest of the day..... come ON, my beautiful freaks!!!! You simply do not have to live in a world like that.
I will now open the sanctum to you.
You’ll want to source nice, ripe pomegranates for this (boxier fruit with flatter sides: trust!). You’ve got until about the end of the year (in California) to revel in pom season.
1) Hold your pomegranate in front of you. Feel its considerable antioxidant power and historical significance (more on that below).
2) Turn the pomegranate between the fingers of both hands, using your thumbs to crush the seeds inside the fruit. Work your way around the entire fruit and begin squeezing a touch harder, and a touch...... deeper (DAMN—IS IT HOT IN THIS NEWSLETTER OR????). You’re trying to reach the seeds underneath the outermost layers now, without piercing the skin. Be diligent, and don’t waste fruit.
3) Put the pomegranate in the fridge for a couple hours.
4) Turn the fruit on its side and poke a hole on top (away from the ground, not the top of the fruit).
5) Drink deeply and directly from the fruit.
As a bonus, you may know that my people (both Iraqis and Armenians) use the pomegranate as a symbol for abundance, fertility, good times, the Levant, the Ottomans, etc. Here’s a classic Iraqi song roughly called “Chal Chal Alayea” (i.e. “tangled, covered, engulfed by the branches of the pomegranate tree”) performed by Ilham al-Madfai, the Iraqi Sinatra. It’s a beautiful anti-colonial anthem in which the singer laments that the lemon tree (Britain) came to “rescue” the people of Iraq, but “I don’t want this handsome man. / Just take me to my people.”
love, alex
ʕ ·ᴥ·ʔ SOON: ..........You’ll see, goddamnit!
PS: Pop the fruit open when you’re done. If you have a lot of seeds still unjuiced, make some simple syrup. Throw the remainder in a pan with a cup of sugar and a scant cup of water, bring it to a boil, then let it sit off heat til it cools (You’re done.) or simmer for ~20 mins (It’ll get thicker.). I find that thinner syrup is better for cocktails, and thicker is better for cooking.