How To: Eat Pomegranates

I’ve said to many people that I have a new favorite fruit after living in Azerbaijan: the pomegranate. And I get the same quizzical look from most of those people, the look that means how do you eat a pomegranate? They’ve recently become popular in the States for drink flavors and bath product scents, but not so much for eating (at least I had never had one before I came to Azerbaijan, and I know many other people that have never had them). Pomegranate season is in fall/early winter (unlike most food in America that you can buy during any season, I couldn’t find them when I was there in June). So here are your directions:

Step 1: Buy/pick the pomegranates. According to Azeris you know they’re ripe when they’re big and make a hollow sound when you tap it (kind of like checking a watermelon to see if it’s ripe).

Step 2: Tear the top (the stem) off – it will leave a small hole.

Step 3: Cut two shallow lines extending from the hole made in Step 2. Make the cuts deep enough to cut through the skin but not so deep that you cut the fruit inside.

Step 4: Place pressure near the top (near the hole) with your hands and then pull your hands apart, thus breaking the pomegranate in half.

Step 5: Pick out the pieces from the inside and eat as many as you want at once. Enjoy!