Pomegranates.

With the economy in the toilet and everyone closing their wallets to things they'd normally want to splurge on, there seems to be one thing people can't get enough of.

Pomegranate.




I don't know what it is about this fruit that suddenly awe-struck an entire nation, but we Americans can't get enough of pomegranate.

Completely curious and new to the fruit, I decided to venture to my neighborhood Giant store to pick up a few pomegranates. To my surprise, I had to pay $8 for two of these somewhat onion-y looking things! I had never tasted anything pomegranetized, so you can bet I was a little annoyed and praying that my next snack would be worth the possible "five-dollar-footlong" I was sacrificing for research.

First of all, figuring out how to actually get to the good stuff in the fruit is quite a challenge in itself. One of my roommates told me she watched a video on YouTube about how to cut the fruit, and although I do not recall the exact directions, she explained that it involved soaking it in lukewarm water, a dash of salt, and traditional Native American folk dance. I decided against the YouTube idea and found that cutting it clean in half worked pretty well. I was a little surprised to find what was waiting for me when I cut it open...



Did I accidentally buy a cow's brain? What exactly is going on here? Again, my trusty roommate explained to me that the seedy/brainy looking pods inside were actually the fruit. So I carefully spooned out the little buggers because apparently (i.e. this happened) if you roughhouse with them, they WILL spray you.

And then I ate them. And I enjoyed them. But I still was curious...why all the fuss? There are definitely fruit on my list that I would much rather eat, smell like, drink, and shampoo my hair with than pomegranate. Sure, the pom has a sexy antioxidant that fights cancer and crime, but what fruit doesn't these days? And sure, the pom has a unique texture and form...but excuse me, BANANAS ANYONE? Bananas have an easy-grip shape and smooth texture making for the perfect comfort food. With the pom, you still have seeds you either need to chew up and swallow (ew!) or spit out!

TOO MUCH EFFORT.

Don't get me wrong, I plan on eating a pomegranate for lunch tomorrow. I just don't plan on buying any of the following:


























Nice try, pomegranate. But I saw "The DaVinci Code" and you were no where in it!

All in all, I give this trend 3 out of 5 stars because while I do like the taste and its interesting shell, I can't believe they have pomegranate chandeliers.

★★★

To read more about the phenomenon that is pomegranate, click here.