Yippee, it’s pomegranate season! Sigh. Aside from the peeling of cooked beets, what other activity can cause so much staining and splatter. (OK, beets don’t splatter — but they do get their purple juices everywhere.)
How To: Seed a Pomegranate
Pomegranate season in North America runs from about October to January.
Ingredients
1 pomegranate
My son loves pomegranate seeds (yet chose to dislike avocado — only 1 seed, large). There are several methods for deseeding pomegranates and even special “tools” that can be purchased, in my experience there is only one method that is easy and does not cause a mess: the underwater method.
Cut off the pomegranate’s “crown.”
Score the pomegranate with a paring knife, marking off four quarters. Lightly cut through the exterior rind.
Use your fingers to gently pry apart the four sections. This is possibly the messiest part; if you are a fun parent, let your kids help. If you hate cleaning (like I do), tell the kids there is a “surprise” hidden somewhere in their room and quickly do this part on your own while they are searching for who knows what.
Lower one quarter of the pomegranate into a bowl of cold water (make sure you choose a bowl big enough to work in with both hands). Pry apart the flesh and gently push out the seeds (arils). Underwater, the seeds will not fly all over or splatter.
The seeds will sink to the bottom and you can pick out the white pith floating on top. Strain.
Now, eat plain with a spoon or add them to yogurt or oatmeal. You can buzz these in a food processor, strain and have a glass of your very own pomegranate juice!
How To: Seed a Pomegranate
Pomegranate season in North America runs from about October to January.
Ingredients
1 pomegranate
Instructions
1. Cut off the pomegranate crown.
2. Score the pomegranate into four quarters.
3. Using your fingers, break the pomegranate into four wedges along the scored incisions.
4. Fill a bowl with cold water. One quarter at a time, hold the pomegranate under water while pushing the seeds (arils) to the bottom using your fingers. The arils will sink and you can pick out the white pith that floats on top.
5. Strain.
Sue Riedl is a Toronto-based food writer with a passion for cheese who writes a column called The Spread for The Globe and Mail. She loves to push stinky cheese on her 3-year-old.
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by Sue Riedl