Fig Update

After a seemingly endless succession of tasteless figs, peaches, pears etc one starts to wonder if it’s worth bothering to keep trying. Today’s veggie box from Valvona & Crolla restored my optimism. The figs weren’t as pretty as the purple supermarket ones. They were green and a bit mushy. But they tasted sweet and figgy and were good enough to eat on their own without needing any culinary artifice. So I had a few like that. Then I had some more with prosciutto and a slice of Poilâne miche. And then a tiny espresso.

They sent some peaches too, but I haven’t tried them yet. Also peppers, aubergine, chillis, Scottish strawberries, chanterelles and tomatoes. There was some prosciutto, cheese, salami and olive oil too.

I’m feeling very contented.

The Pomegranate is Here

The supermarket had pomegranates again yesterday! Their season is from now until January, so they haven’t been around for a few months. There’s something seductive about pomegranates. The myths and symbolism seem stronger than for other foods. I know about the temptation in the Garden of Eden, but I don’t think about it every time I see an apple. Somehow pomegranates keep their air of ancient mystery even when you can buy them in the supermarket.

I have childhood memories of picking out the grains with a pin (I’m not sure why, because these days they seem to come out perfectly easily without any pins being needed), and of the wonderful melograno bath oil from the Farmacia Santa Maria Novella in Florence, but there are more evocative images lingering in the air too, of the story of Persephone being kidnapped and taken to the Underworld by Pluto. The Fates decreed that she could not return if she had eaten any food, and she had eaten a few pomegranate seeds during her time in the Underworld, so a compromise was made allowing her to return to Earth for half of the year, and spend the other half in the Underworld (the proportions of time in each place vary in different versions of the story). During Persephone’s time in the Underworld, her mother, Ceres, goddess of agriculture, mourns, and the Earth is barren, apart from the pomegranate, the fruit of the Underworld.

It’s hard to resist the lure of such a fruit, but it’s not immediately obvious what to do with it when you get it home. A few seeds sprinkled on some Greek yoghurt are good, but there must be more than that!

One popular use is as a garnish for a warm salad of one of the richer meats, such as slow-roast lamb shoulder, or confit duck leg. Henry Harris makes a delicious version with a dressing of grated ginger, lemon, olive oil and poppy seeds, served with confit duck leg, with spring onions, walnuts, coriander, and a good scattering of pomegranate seeds. That combination of olive oil dressing, walnuts and pomegranates is very good.

Pomegranates originated in the Middle East, and are found in dishes all around that area. Paula Wolfert’s The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean has several examples: with summer savory salad; with grilled red pepper strips and cumin; in a hot and sweet red pepper dip with walnuts… and even more recipes that use pomegranate molasses. There’s a delicious one where chicken breasts are stuffed with mozzarella and roasted with a glaze of pomegranate molasses.

That should be enough to keep me going until they disappear in the new year.