Fruit
Pomegranate
GranadaMagranaPunica granatum
A jewel box with hundreds of seeds. There's a trick to getting them out, and once you know it you won't stain your shirt again.
When
Around: Sept–Dec · At its best: Oct–Nov
Around: Sept–Jan · At its best: Oct–Nov
Around: Mar–Jun · At its best: Apr–May
Around here
In Catalonia the pomegranate is a garden and orchard tree; it copes well with drought and in autumn the fruit splits open on the branch. Shop ones come mainly from southern Valencia, home of the Granada Mollar de Elche PDO, a sweet variety with seeds so soft you barely notice them.
At the market
- Very heavy for its size: a sign of seeds full of juice.
- Taut, slightly hard skin; if it looks a bit angular rather than round, it's usually well filled.
- A small crack is fine if dry and clean; avoid mould, soft patches or dark bruises.
At home
- Whole, they keep one or two weeks out of the fridge; in the fridge, over a month.
- Loose seeds, in a closed jar in the fridge, four or five days.
- To deseed: cut it in half, hold it cut side down in your palm over a bowl and whack the skin with a wooden spoon.
If you have too much
- Freeze the seeds spread on a tray, then bag them: they stay separate and are good for salads.
- Real grenadine: equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar, boiled for a few minutes.
- Pomegranate molasses: juice reduced slowly until syrupy, for dressings and meat.
In the kitchen
- Seeds by the spoonful, with a little sugar or a splash of sweet wine.
- Escarole salad with pomegranate, mandarin and walnuts.
- Scattered over hummus, yoghurt or roast aubergines.
- Fresh juice from an orange squeezer: it comes out pink and tart.
- With sliced persimon and a bit of cheese.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 83 kcal
- Water
- 78% water
- Carbs
- 18.7 g
- Sugars
- 13.7 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
- Protein
- 1.7 g
Stands out for
- Source of vitamin K16.4 µg · 22% of what you need in a day
- Source of folate38 µg · 19% of what you need in a day
- Source of fibre4 g
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
Goes with
- EndiveOct–MarBitter outside and almost sweet at the heart, which is yellow because the outer leaves keep the light off it. Cold weather makes it more tender.
- PersimmonOct–DecThere are two kinds: the old-fashioned one, eaten with a spoon when it's soft as jelly, and the «persimon», eaten firm like an apple. Bite a soft-type one too early and your mouth turns to sandpaper.
- MandarinOct–MarThe fruit you peel without a knife that leaves your hands smelling of winter. Almost all the ones sold here are clementines, a type of mandarin.
- AubergineJun–OctIt's a sponge: it soaks up all the oil you give it. Charred whole over a flame it becomes something else, creamy and smoky, without a drop extra.