‘Tis the season for pomegranate

It is really the pomegranate season. Go out and get one of this fruit now because it is not often found in the market. It costs about RM2.50 per fruit and most of what I saw are imported from Spain.

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Frankly, it is a chore eating them as the little sacs drop every where and one gotta spit out the tiny seeds. But still, I love pomegranate for it’s mystical allure.

It is hard getting the spelling right and I couldn’t get it until I Google for buah delima which is a Malay term. So, that is one reason why this fruit is alluring! Difficult to spell.

Secondly, pomegranates were must-haves at Chinese weddings. Guess why? It has to come in pairs and offered to the altars (of Chinese gods). Because if you look at the inside of the fruit, you see lots and lots of tiny seeds which signifies the ability for the couple to get lots and lots of children. I remembered both my sisters’ weddings when my mom had to hunt high and low for someone with a pomegranate plants and pluck fruits that come in a pair. My sisters did have many kids!

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Thirdly, in the older Malay novels, the lips of women are often compared to a crack pomegranate. It goes something like ‘her lips are red like a cracked pomegranate (bibirnya bagai buah delima merekah or something like that)’. Hmmm…does the fruit looks as sensuous?

Fourthly, grenadine, the syrup made from pomegranate makes beautiful cocktails.

So, that’s why pomegranate is a sensuous fruit with mystical allure. If you have never eaten one, you should. The tiny sacs explode in the mouth, rewarding you with sweet juices. But you need to get a ripe fruit, imported ones or else it is very tart and leave a funny taste in your mouth.

3 Replies to “‘Tis the season for pomegranate”

  1. Bunga telur is given to guests at Malay weddings as eggs are a sign of ‘fertility’ to the newly wedded couple (similar to the Chinese wedding concept). Traditionally, pulut is also served at Malay weddings as pulut is also viewed as a ‘fertility’ sign.

  2. I am crazy about them and the Spain ones are so much better than the previous Indian batch. We get them for RM2 each in KL at the night markets. You can use this method to whack the seeds out if you feel it’s diffcult to take it out manually. There are also some from USA in the supermarkets.

  3. i used to grow 2 pomegranate trees in my backyard but i got rid of them coz the fruits weren’t sweet..my wife loves them but not me, she used to squash them over a mesh to get the juice for making her drinks. over here in melbourne not a lot of angmoh knows them but most indochinese grow them in their backyards.

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