Wednesday 12 November 2008

Nigella Lawson describes these as jewels....

For some reason completely unknown to me these beautiful things are not common here in Australia...'apparently' we have so many other fruits here that the demand for these are very minor...



While on holiday my friend introduced Mike & I to our latest indulgence...now, although I'm grateful to her, I'm not sure if my purse is...since you can't find these at the supermarket and have to go the fruit shop, they're sporting a price of $3.50 each (which is above US$5). So um...I'll say 'thanks Kim'...but my purse won't...it's struggling with resentment issues!

And to think that my in-laws who are most likely moving to the Abu Dhabi in the Middle East in the next month will be surrounded with gorgeous amounts of these since the Pomegranate is native to the Middle East...and apparently was cultivated in Egypt before the time of Moses...and was quite significant in the Jewish culture...to the point of the design of the pomegranate being woven into high priests robes, and brass representations were part of the Temple's pillars. This fruit is mentioned 8 times in the Bible...and some believe it to be the fruit on the Tree of Life...whatever the truth be...I can totally see how they might describe this fruit as 'divine'.

And just for those of you who may not be religious & need some other reason to spend ridiculous amounts of money on gourmet fruit - here are some health facts about the pomegranate...(which is how Mike & I are justifying our expensive indulgence...) :
1. High in fibre
2. High in Vitamin C
3. The juice possess's almost 3 times the total amount of antioxidents found in green tea or red wine.
4. Supposed to work like 'aspirin' in preventing blood clots
5. Recent research has shown that 8 ounces of Pomegranate juice per day for 3mths improved the amount of oxygen getting to the heart in patients with coronary heart disease (prevents plaque building up in the arteries)
6. Research suggests that Pomegranate juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone
7. Inhibits the development of lung cancer
8. Slows the growth of prostrate cancer
9. May protect the neonatal brain from damage after injury
10. Assists in the prevention of Osteoarthritis
11. It may prevent and slow Alzheimers disease
12. Lowers Cholesterol
13. Lowers Blood Pressure
14. Natural way to prevent Dental Plaque
....and the list goes on....

....hmmmm maybe it really IS the fruit from the Tree of Life...???? :)

7 comments:

-kim said...

please don't be mad at me! if you send me pictures of my kids, i will send you pomegranate money....

Analiese said...

Wow, this is so exciting. Another post from you to make up for lost time.
I have never tried a pomegranate - i have looked lustfully on as nigella cooks with it though!

Sarah Tilley said...

you should grow your own pomegranate tree- my grandma had one in her back yard. nothing beats free. :)

ALYN said...

We had a Pomagranate bush in our yard in Arizona. We didn't even eat them often. It's hard to imagine paying premium prices for them!

Kruger Family said...

I love those! I alos love the pictures you took of them...did you use a reflector or a grey card to get it so white?

Dawna said...

You inspired me to go get a pomegranate- and they were on sale $1.99! Score. And my 2 year old loved it- another score!

The Good Life in Virginia said...

we had three pomegranate trees in california...love the color of the leaves in spring...and had tons of fruit...they grow pretty fast.