Taste of Mexico: Granada

For once, I’m going to constitute astir a effect whose past is refreshingly unconnected to past Mexico. The pomegranate hails from a agelong moving done modern Iran to the bluish reaches of the Indian Himalayas. Archaeological finds archer america that radical successful these regions cultivated and savored the effect arsenic acold backmost arsenic 5,000 years ago.

The pomegranate’s travel reads similar a footnote to the large travelogues of civilization. Phoenicians — maestro navigators and merchants whose bequest includes the alphabet — dispersed pomegranate seeds from the Levant to the Mediterranean’s edge, agelong earlier Rome would spot its archetypal triumph. Their ships mapped caller routes for civilization and cuisine passim Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Later, erstwhile the Moors conquered the Iberian Peninsula, they brought their gardens with them, including the pomegranate, to the Andalusian sun. Granada, 1 of Spain’s astir exquisite cities, inactive bears the effect arsenic its emblem.

(Feliphe Schiarolli/Unsplash)

The last thigh of its travel took spot with the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Galleons laden with goods — gold, spices, dreams, and seeds — sailed west, carrying pomegranates into the New World, wherever the effect recovered caller ungraded and eventually, a starring relation successful Mexico’s culinary heritage.

As for the connection itself, “granada” comes from the Latin malum granatum (“seeded apple”), revealing however past cultures viewed the pomegranate arsenic some acquainted and mysterious —so overmuch truthful that it couldn’t assistance but pull legend.

For Egyptians, pomegranates were important capable to beryllium placed successful tombs for the afterlife, prized for their healing powers and arsenic a root for textile dyes. The Babylonians believed eating the effect earlier conflict guaranteed bully luck and courage. Greeks regarded the pomegranate arsenic an aphrodisiac, weaving the effect into their mythology — the communicative of Persephone’s descent into the underworld is marked by the fateful infinitesimal she ate its seeds.

Judaism holds that the fruit’s galore seeds correspond the 613 commandments of the Torah, adorning priestly robes and Temple pillars. Early Christians viewed it arsenic a awesome of harmony, and successful Islam, it is counted among the fruits of paradise, with pomegranate trees inactive grown successful gardens arsenic reminders of abundance and divine favor. Across generations and faiths, its symbolism endures.

Personal symbolism

At my grandparents’ ranch, a pomegranate histrion dominates the halfway of the patio. Each year, arsenic the effect ripened, my gramps would signifier our harvest. Hands stained, apparel splattered with the indelible reddish juice, we’d stitchery beneath its branches to peel distant the rind, gossiping and sharing stories until the sunset colored the sky. There, plans were made: quesadillas successful the village, borrowing a neighbor’s stew, oregon simply playing rummy with caller breadstuff and beverage astatine home. For me, the pomegranate histrion is simply a awesome for enjoying a cleanable infinitesimal of “dolce acold niente” — saccharine nothingness — aft a time of hard labor.

Pomegranate successful Mexican kitchens

Curiously, Mexican kitchens person seldom adopted pomegranate extracurricular of 1 iconic dish. Unlike the sugar-crystallized candies, jams, oregon preserves made from different fruits, pomegranate’s relation has been astir wholly reserved for chiles en nogada. This celebratory sheet — achromatic walnut sauce, greenish poblano pepper, and the superb reddish of pomegranate seeds—was invented to commemorate Mexico’s independence. It’s claimed the crockery uses exclusively endemic ingredients from Puebla. Whenever I perceive this beardown affirmation, it makes maine smile. Here is simply a effect from Persia, chosen to correspond the reddish of our flag, echoing the humor of independency fighters, yet a satellite distant from Mexican origin.

Outside this symbolic role, pomegranates look from August to October, filling marketplace stands with granadas, immoderate chopped unfastened to show their ruby grains. Street vendors roam, selling them whole, successful elemental sacks, oregon freshly seeded.

If you inquire me, the simplest mode is the finest: devour them arsenic they are, sun-warmed and pure, oregon with a hint of brackish and lime to accent their earthy sweetness.

A powerhouse hidden successful plain sight

Pomegranate isn’t conscionable beautiful; it’s remarkably nutritious. Each effect is loaded with polyphenols, tannins, vitamins C and K, folate, potassium, and a bully dose of fiber. If you’re chasing antioxidants, pomegranate outperforms adjacent greenish tea.

Its benefits are wide-ranging and backed by increasing technological interest: perchance helping forestall definite cancers, improving cardiovascular health, lowering humor pressure, boosting cognitive relation and aiding successful the prevention of Alzheimer’s, strengthening the immune system, and serving arsenic an awesome anti-inflammatory cause — particularly for those with arthritis. Some adjacent telephone it a fountain of youth, acknowledgment to its antioxidant compounds.

Reinventing tradition

These days, Mexican cooks are experimenting with pomegranate. It’s nary longer confined to chiles en nogada oregon the marketplace vendor’s buckets. Toss the seeds into salads. Try them with chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, reddish onion, a splash of olive oil, and a small vinegar. The freshness is unmistakable, the popular of spirit unforgettable.

The adjacent clip you devour chiles en nogada, bespeak connected what each wound delivers: the sensation of Persian orchards, Phoenician spice ships, Moorish palaces, Spanish assemblage ambition, and Mexican creativity. The pomegranate, successful each seed, carries a vertical portion of satellite past — its crimson hue a reminder of the mode our plates are shaped by journeys some past and ongoing.

María Meléndez is a Mexico City nutrient blogger and influencer.