I’m hoping there’s a better way than what I do now: I cut one in quarters then make like I’m going to turn the quarter inside out. This causes clumps of seeds to stick out, then I do a very messy corn-on-the-cob munching thing. “Messy” is the operative word. Tonight I got shot in the eye with juice.
I guess they are kind of an erotic fruit, 'cause the best way to eat them is naked in the bathtub.
Do you swallow the seeds? It’s one thing to swallow the seeds when they are a garnish on a salad. But I’ve got one the size of a softball. There’s roughage and there’s roughage.
Cut it in half, submerge one half in a bowl of water and gently work the fruit out. Repeat with the other half. The water will separate the little fruits from the waxy pulp.
I buy several pomegranates at a time, as many as eight of them (because this process is tedious and messy). Then I quarter them and separate the seeds from the white pulp. (Some people like to do this in water, because the seeds float and the pulp sinks. Doing so helps to reduce the amount of spray from seeds that burst.) I usually separate the seeds from the pulp in the kitchen sink. Once I’ve separated all of the seeds, I store them in quart-sized yogurt containers in the refrigerator. (Six or eight fruit might fill two quart-sized yogurt containers.) Then, over the next week or two, I put some of the seeds in a bowl and mix in some salt and ground roast cumin, and eat the seeds with a spoon.
The seeds will store for a very long time in a sealed plastic container in the fridge - at least a month. So if you like to eat them a lot, buy a bunch at once and store the seeds.
In large bowl, peel pomegranate carefully or cut in half. Consume by picking out juicy ruby-red seeds clump by clump or one by one, with the fingers. Fingertips will turn black, but who cares, you’re eating a pomegranate. Mmmmm pomegranates.
On the rare occasions that it is necessary to waste perfectly good pomegranate seeds by feeding them to guests, dig out the seeds carefully with a small spoon instead of fingers and collect them in bowl for putting in or on the prepared dish.
Random Person: Here, have a pomegranate. (Hands me a pom)
Me: Yuk, I hate 'em. (I hand pom back)
Random Person: Yeah, I get that sometimes. (Shrugs; slinks off in search of a sharp knife)
I just ate half of one. I loveee them. I eat them the way the OP does. I will cut a slit in one just enough to get it started and then peel as I go. I always swallow the seeds. There is nothing like a GOOD pomegranate but I have had some that weren’t so good. I will eat one or most of one a day til they are gone for the season.
Huh. This water method looks pretty good, judging by the Youtube videos. I’ve always just sliced the sucker in half and used a teaspoon to fish out the seeds.
This is the way I do it too. I’ve tried several other methods but their big drawback is that having all the seeds out before I’m actually consuming them causes the vultures to arrive. If I’m doing all the work I am eating the damn seeds and having a knife in hand while peeling and eating so far seems to be the most effective.
When I was little, Mom prepared them by separating the bits and marinating them in red wine with sugar. Then one day as I was preparing one, I discovered that they need wine like I need a bigger ass…
Since I’m the only person in the family who likes them, I roll the pomegranate on a hard, flat surface (such as a countertop) to loosen up the seeds, then I locate the height at which the sort-of-horizontal internal skin should be, cut a ring through there, twist it open, and start picking away, tearing away its naturally-occuring pieces. Like certain kinds of shellfish, half the pleasure is in having social permission to be messy when you eat it
Much like a woman, getting to the good parts of a pomegranate out of it’s wrapper requires a combination of observation, technique, and a gentle but strong hands.
Unlike a woman, you also need a knife.
Cut the crown off by sticking the knife in diagonally, then rotating until a little triangular bit pops out. Then score it along the bits that stick out, deep enough to cut the rind, but not so deep that juice spills out. You should now be able to gently pull it apart along it’s interior divisions. Pull away the papery dividing skin (I should come up with some underwear analogy, but I’m tired) and the arils should pop right out into your hands. Eat them, then get more, turning the rind bit inside out as you go.
You don’t have to be naked to use this method, though I suppose it couldn’t hurt.
Love 'em. As sweet as your first kiss, and such a wonderfully sensual range of colors . . .
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Also like a woman, I’ve never mastered the art of identifying when they’re ready. There is supposedly some arcane method involving tapping them and listing for a ‘metallic’ echo (for pomegranates, not women) but I’ve never been able to tell the difference, and have always felt stupid trying. I usually just keep them around for a week or two and then hope they’re ripe when I open them. (Again, only pomegranates, not women)
