Autumn’s Jewels

On Thursday evening, I bought my first pomegranate.  That night, I learned what all the fuss is about.

Don’t get me wrong: I’d eaten pomegranate seeds before.  They are delicious: sweet, tangy, fresh, and crunchy.  To my palate, they are utterly unique.  But I’d never done the work of excavating my own pomegranate seeds from the fruit, and it turns out that being a fruit archaeologist is utterly delightful work.  It’s messy, too: before I was finished, I’d sprayed both the wall and myself with droplets of dark red juice.  You’d think that I would be smart enough to put on an apron, but nah—I’ll just wear a white t-shirt instead and cover that with juice.

I know others have shared ways to more easily extract the seeds from that webwork of membranes.  I tried gently using a hammer to knock the seeds loose, but that didn’t work.  In the end, my fingers were the best tools (aren’t they usually?), and I let myself sink into the slow task of de-seeding the pomegranate.  At the end, I had a bowl filled with fresh pomegranate seeds and a new feeling of wonder.  Also, I had more than a few pomegranate seeds in my belly—I’m an eat-while-you-work kinda person.