History 
The ruby-hued pomegranate is one of the oldest fruits known to man. Judging by some of the earliest records, the pomegranate is native to Persia and the surrounding area. The Romans called it the Punic apple, derived from the root of its Latin name, Punicum malum (apple). Called the seeded apple, “pomuni granatum” in the Middle Ages. Its current botanical name is Punicum granatum.
The character of the fruit made it particularly agreeable to the inhabitant of hot, arid regions, and so it spread east to India and China, and west to countries encircling the Mediterranean.
Thought to be native to China, pomegranates were brought to China about 100 B.C. by Jang Qian, of the Han dynasty.
It was cultivated in ancient Greece and referred to by Greek writers several hundred years B.C., even before the advent of the almond, peach or apricot.
The Ancient Egyptians were buried with pomegranates. The Babylonians believed chewing the seeds before battle made them invincible. The Qur’an mentions pomegranates three times (6:99, 6:141, 55:068) - twice as examples of the good things God creates, once as a fruit found in the Garden of Paradise.
The pomegranate has a calyx shaped like a crown. In Jewish tradition it has been seen as the original “design” for the proper crown. Perhaps due to the fruit’s princely blossom, it has gained distinction as a royal fruit. The pomegranate was the personal emblem of the Roman Emperor, Maximilian I. Indian royalty began their banquets with pomegranate, grape & jujube.
The pomegranate made its way to Italy via Carthage (Punic). IIts name, Punicum granatum, recognizes Carthage as a focal point for pomegranate cultivation and granatum referring to the many seeds or grains in the fruit.
The Moors brought the seedy fruit to Spain round 800 A.D. It flourished particularly well in Spain & the pomegranate became their national emblem. The city of Granada owes its name to the high-quality fruit grown in that area.
The first pomegranate planted in Britain was done by none other than King Henry VIII. Many Italian Renaissance fabrics boasted the pattern of cut pomegranates. Chaucer, Shakespeare and Homer have all extolled the virtues of the pomegranate in literature.
On important days in the Greek Orthodox faith, i.e. Christmas Day, it’s tradition to have at the dinner table “polysporia”. It is also tradition in Greece to break a pomegranate on the ground at weddings, on New Years and when one buys a new home for a house guest to bring as a first gift a pomegranate which is placed under/near the ikonostase, (home altar), as it is a symbol of abundance, fertility and good luck. Its abundant seeds represent the fortune of many offspring.
Spanish missionaries brought the pomegranate to the New World soon after Cortez conquered Mexico in 1521. As the missions moved north to California, so did the fruits grown by the padres. An orchard containing pomegranates was described by a visitor to Mission San Buena Ventura in 1792. Most descriptions of early California fruit gardens mention pomegranates.
Today many California mission gardens contain pomegranate bushes, some originally planted by the padres.
Although not native to Japan, the pomegranate is widely grown there and many cultivars have been developed. It is widely used for bonsai, because of its lovely flowers and for the unusual twisted bark that older specimens can attain.
Grenada, off the coast of South America, was named after the Spanish and French word for ‘pomegranate’. The pomegranate also gave its name to the hand grenade from its shape and size and the resemblance of a pomegranate’s seeds to a grenade’s fragments; and to the garnet from its color. In many languages (including Bulgarian, Spanish, French, and Hebrew) the words are exactly the same.
In the U.S. pomegranates are grown where winters are mild, but only in California does the fruit reach the quality necessary for successful commercial production. The pomegranate also serves as an ornamental shrub or tree, prized for its fruit, shiny foliage, and long flowering period during the spring and summer. |
Recipes
NOTE: These recipes are my favorites, which I have gathered from many sources & I can't take responsibility for creating them. I HAVE tried them successfully though and can recommend them.
Pomegranate Molasses Recipe #86849
1 cup.
Cooking time:6 min, 1 min prep
4 cups pomegranate juice (freshed squeezed, full strength)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
- Combine all ingredients.
- Simmer and reduce until there is only 1 cup of liquid remaining.
- Chill.
Pomegranate Liquer "#5"
Ingredients:
Pomegranates should be as ripe and red as you can get them. Too young, and the flavor may be weak. Too old, and they will, of course, already be rotten. Larger pomegranates are preferred, if only for yield. I generally get 12 ounces of juice (separate from the pulp) for each pair of pomegranates. If your fruit yields much less than that, toss in another one or so, so you get about 12 ounces of juice total. If unsure, err on the side of plenty. I've run with as much as 16 ounces.
* 2 large pomegranates, pods only
* 1 1/2 cups vodka
* 3/4 cups sugar
* 3/8 cups water
* 1/2 peel, lemon, scraped
 Preparation:
Remove pods from pomegranates. Throw away rind and pith. Press out all the juice with a good, sturdy press. Put the resulting juice and pulp in a 1-liter mason jar (any glass jar you can effectively seal works; I use Arc jars from France, and Fidenza jars from Italy). Prepare lemon peel, toss in jar. Add vodka. Seal jar.
Steep two weeks (though I have left it as much as four with no ill effects), turning it over once a day. Strain and filter. Squeeze the pulp moderately hard, but realize that the harder you squeeze, the harder will be the job of filtering later on. It's a tough balance to make.
Now, boil the sugar and water together. Let stand a moment to cool. Add syrup to mixture, and seal quickly. Age another month. Remove, filter again, bottle. You should note that there's a thick haze or sludge on the bottom of your jar, and you will find it incredibly difficult to filter out with anything but a serious wine filter. Instead, you might consider racking the liqueur (siphoning the good liqueur off the top, and discarding the sludge on the bottom). You lose a little bit of liquid along with the sludge, but you sure save yourself a lot of work filtering.
Yield: Total liquid (1.5 cups vodka, .75 cups syrup, 1.5 cups pomegranate juice) 3.75 cups. Proof: about 35.
More recipes soon.
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