It's fall, and pomegranates are back in the market. Everyone loves the Pom juice these days -- a dash in a flute of champagne, with chai-infused vermouth and Courvoisier at Employees Only, or just floated on top of a tall glass of iced seltzer. But there's something kind of dangerous and sexual about the fruit -- a round red ball that splits open to reveal an overabundance of uniform blood red kernels and almost no pith. It's no wonder that Demeter's daughter Persephone couldn't resist the temptation of sucking on seven pomegranate seeds during her abduction and imprisonment in Hades' underworld. As my roommate said, "This must be what it's like to eat pussy. Not that I would know."
Look for heavy specimens that aren't too dry or pale. To open, score a hemicircle across the blossom end of the fruit just through the skin and break the fruit into two halves. The sacs are sweet, tart, crisp but full of juice with a little crunchy white nub in the middle. They're apparently also very high in antioxidants.
In Thai, the word for pomegranate is the same word for ruby, and the thin membranes of the best specimens should look encrusted with dark jewels. Throw the juicy seeds in salads, with dressings sweetened with Middle Eastern pomegranate molasses. Pomegranate seeds are sprinkled atop Chiles en Nogada (stuffed poblano chiles with walnut sauce). Garnish a carrot ginger soup with the garnet nuggets. I got mine at my local greengrocer for $2.49; FreshDirect has them for $2.99/each.
