[Sca-cooks] Pomegranate Preservation

wheezul at canby.com wheezul at canby.com
Wed Feb 24 09:48:08 PST 2010


>> Which reminds me- there's a recipe for something called 'Strawbereye'
> in... I think it was Curye on Inglische. Anyway, it is basically a
> strawberry pudding, but it also calls for pomegranate seeds to be
> 'strewn abouten'. Oookaaay... but strawberries and pomegranates aren't
> in season at the same time, are they? How did they do this?
>
> 'Lainie

Hi 'Lainie,

I'm so new on this list that I am skerit to post, but I think I may have
something to add.

I've volunteered to teach at An Tir's Culinary Symposium next November and
took on the task of translating the Wecker cookbook - the first printed
cookbook written by a woman.  I've been posting stuff on my LJ but have
such a steep learning curve that I have a lot of reading to do to even
hang with this august crowd here :)

Howsomever, there are two instances of pomegranate preservation I have
found in my small stash of 15th and 16th century materials so far.  One is
in the Staindl cookbook which tells how to candy pomegranate rinds and use
them as pomegranate substitute.

The Wecker cookbook has extensive instructions for preserving pomegranates
up to a year.  The rinds are slit in an 8 piece star, leaving the insides
intact with the skin attached to the bottom so as not to disturb the
juice.  The are soaked in covered deep dish in a warm spot with water a
day and night, drained, refilled and then soak another day and night. 
They are then boiled until the skins fall off, which are set aside on a
clean cloth.  After this a boiled sugar syrup is made - one pound of
sugar, 5 quarter measures of the previously boiled water (and add more
water if you don't have enough) per 3 pomegranates, with the instructions
to skim the syrup so it remains clear as it boils.  The syrup is cooled
and then the pomegranates are added to sit covered in it for a day or two.
 When the syrup thickens (not sure if this means get evaporates or is
drawn in by the fruit) you reboil the syrup as above and let the
pomegranates sit in the syrup again.  In the third round of syrup making
the pomegranates are boiled in the syrup.  Anna says this make the
pomegranate clear so you can see the pips, and that it can be kept a whole
year - and they will stay nicest when kept covered [with liquid] so
fermentation can go to the top.  She writes that this preparation is
especially good for the ill with stomach upsets and for headaches.

As soon as I have the time, if you want, I'll post the whole thing on the
LJ with a line by line translation.  The recipe is on pages 134-135. 
Sounds a bit like pomegranate molasses maybe?

I wonder if all the color leaches into the syrup and this is why the title
says how to make a nice 'white' pomegranate.

Katherine



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