[Sca-cooks] Sweet and Bitter Pomegranates

[Suey]

Many thanks for your advise as to  how to avoid painting the kitchen 
like the Inquisition when preparing pomegrantes.
I returned to the fruit shop today where the fruit man had promised  
sweet pomegranates but he said there were none.
A friend commented that his grandmother had a tree. No one was allowed 
to touch the fruits until the rind started to open. As he recalls it was 
dark red not lighter as the fruit man claimed and it was then that the 
fruit was sweet.
I have read that when this fruit is picked it stops changing to or from 
acidity or sweetening - that process just stops. So if you pick an acid 
pomegrante, it will be acid until it rots or visa versa.
I am wondering if pomegranates on sale here this fall are not picked too 
early to meet supply and demand nowadays.
Suey