November is National Pomegranate Month, so today we will say a few words in honor of the free radical-fighting fruit.
Native to Persia, pomegranates have been cultivated in Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. The fruit was introduced to the Americas by the Spanish in the late 18th century, and we currently grow it in parts of California and Arizona for juice production.
The edible part of the pomegranate is the juicy seed casing known as the aril. High in vitamin C, vitamin B5, potassium, and antioxidant polyphenols, proponents taut pomegranate juice as effective in reducing heart disease and high blood pressure, not to mention scavenging those pesky free radicals. The seeds themselves, when consumed with the aril, are high in fiber and unsaturated fat.
The name pomegranate derives from the Latin pomum (“apple”) and granatus (“seeded”). In both Spanish and French, the words for pomegranate and grenade are the same (granada and grenade, respectively), likely due to the fact that the fruit and weapon are similarly shaped. The French la grenade also gives us the word grenadine, the name of a fruit syrup originally made from pomegranates and widely used in cocktails.
A while back, we saw on one of my favorite Food Network shows that grenadine is actually a pomegranate syrup. Our only prior experience with grenadine was Rose’s Grenadine, so we never had any clue that it was in any way related to pomegranates. Don’t get me wrong, Rose’s is certainly tasty and a staple in most well appointed bars, but it is not much more than sugar syrup with red food coloring. So we decided to conduct a little science experiment.
Steve made a batch of home-made grenadine using pomegranate juice and sugar, using a recipe courtesy of that favorite tv chef. He started out with two bottles of pomegranate juice and after all the cooking and reducing ended up with less than a bottle of syrup. He also bought two bottles of alternative grenadines to compare it with: the old standby Rose’s and a brand of authentic pomegranate grenadine.
First, we poured a little bit of each grenadine into the bottom of a glass to compare. Not surprisingly, the Rose’s was maraschino cherry red. The store bought authentic grenadine was more of a pale pink, while our home made authentic grenadine was a deep, dark reddish purple. Both the Rose’s and our home made grenadine were thick, sticky, and syrupy. The store bought authentic grenadine was pretty thin, though, almost watery. Finally, the taste test. The Rose’s tasted like sugar syrup. The authentic syrups, on the other hand, had a pronounced pomegranate flavor, with the home made syrup being much stronger than the store bought syrup.
Next, we made a classic cocktail using grenadine: the Tequila Sunrise. We mixed three identical glasses of tequila and orange juice and added a splash of grenadine to the top of each one. Bar far, the Rose’s would win any cocktail beauty contests, giving the top of the drink a rosy blush. The store bought authentic grenadine was virtually undetectable to the human eye. And the home made authentic grenadine . . . well, it looked pretty gross, like a gray glob floating in the drink.
Flavor-wise, the store bought authentic grenadine won out. Although it wasn’t visible, it certainly added flavor to the drink. And the home made syrup, well . . . surely the unappetizing look of the drink contributed to the fact that neither of us thought the final drink tasted good at all.
So there you have it, a few fun facts about pomegranates and our thoughts on various types of pomegranate syrup.
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