Pomegranate

Alice Waters' Pomegranate Gelée

November 21, 2013

This week's guest editor is Alice Waters, the visionary behind Chez Panisse and The Edible Schoolyard Project. All week, she'll be sharing recipes from her latest cookbook, The Art of Simple Food II, answering our questions, and inspiring us to get a little dirt on our sleeves. We'll also be giving away a copy of her new book each day!

Today: Alice shares a dessert that captures the juicy brightness of an underutilized fruit.

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I'm always surprised when I break open a pomegranate and rediscover the beauty of the ivory-colored, paper-thin pulp cradling hundreds of tiny scarlet fruits, each encasing one seed. Their sweet-tart juice is perfectly refreshing, and the crunchy texture of the seeds is part of the experience. Gelée is a great way to feature pomegranates and is very simple to make; garnish it with more pomegranate seeds and serve it on its own or with a scoop of sorbet

More: Here's how to de-seed a pomegranate.

Pomegranate Gelée

Serves 6

6 medium pomegranates
1 3/4 cups water
1 1/4-ounce packet unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 lemon
Rosé wine

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by James Ransom

We're giving away a copy of The Art of Simple Food II! To enter, tell us in the comments: What's your favorite way to eat pomegranate? We'll choose a winner this Friday, November 22 -- unfortunately, we can't ship outside the US.

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AliceWaters

Written by: AliceWaters

14 Comments

allstar379 November 22, 2013
Recently, I've loved eating fresh pomegranate arils alongside butternut squash soup! And of course...they're delicious taken straight from the fruit with a spoon
 
Frances P. November 22, 2013
I just love to linger over the fruit taking my time to pull it apart with a grapefruit spoon!
 
Kristen November 22, 2013
In cocktails!
 
ingababinga November 22, 2013
Fresh goat milk yogurt, pomegranate arils, iced farm raspberries, and raw almond slivers. The perfect breakfast bite!
 
Karina N. November 21, 2013
Straight from the fruit!! Love those beautiful seeds!
 
ATG117 November 21, 2013
Straight from the fruit or sprinkled over Greek yogurt
 
PJ November 21, 2013
On the streets of Istanbul purchased fresh pressed from the vendor's cart.
 
JanetK November 21, 2013
Pomegranates are absolutely lovely fruits with a rich historical and cultural value (for instance, the pomegranate is a common motif in textile design across the ancient world). The arils are so flavorful that I eat them on their own or tossed into salads or with yogurt.
 
SallyM November 21, 2013
I make an a salad with little gems and top it with persimmon, goat cheese and pomegranate seeds - it's beautiful and delicious.
 
Brad C. November 21, 2013
My mom always makes pomegranate dessert salad for thanksgiving
 
aargersi November 21, 2013
does freezing the arils and putting them in my champagne count?
 
laura November 21, 2013
Fresh, over the sink!
 
Sheila N. November 21, 2013
With toasted pecans over goat cheese.
 
Shannon November 21, 2013
In salads!