Enchanted fruit

In Greek mythology there is one lovely myth – the love triangle among Demeter, goddess of nature, her daughter Persephone and Hades, the god of the underworld or the after-life. One day Demeter and her daughter Persephone were walking. Demeter was attending to nature while Persephone was playing in the fields. Suddenly Persephone saw a yellow narcissus, that’s a flower, in the distance, and decided to go for it. She pulled the flower out of the earth maybe to bring it to her mother to put in her hair when suddenly the small hole the flower left on the earth grew bigger and wider.  She heard the galloping of horses.  Out came Hades, who was her uncle, but he was in love with her.  He grabbed Persephone and whisked her down to the underworld.

 Of course, Demeter was devastated. She could not find her daughter.  She searched high and low and finally begged with Zeus and Hades to return Persephone to her at least part of the year.  They struck a deal.  But before she left the underworld Hades left an open pomegranate on a table that Persephone would have to pass. She saw the tempting fruit and ate just a little bit of it – four little kernels, according to the books.  You see, pomegranates are made up of small ruby red juicy kernels about as big as kernels of corn.

Now the Greeks had a belief. If a captive ate fruit from the captor’s house, it meant she would always return. So Persephone would come up from the underworld and spring, summer and a part of autumn would return to earth.  Then she would return to be queen of Hades’ underworld and winter would descend on earth as her mother, Demeter, grew cold and frozen with sorrow. 

But in the underworld or after-life Persephone was queen. She must have enjoyed being queen of the underworld. Otherwise she would not have eaten the four kernels of pomegranate. And how could she settle for just four kernels?  I could never. To this day I must eat a whole pomegranate in one sitting.

What are pomegranates? They are fruits that sort of resemble a giant guava but the color is sort of yellowish with ruby red quickly brushed on.  When I was small I remember my grandmother visiting one of her good friends who had a granada tree. Lola plucked a fruit and gave it to me. It had pale pink kernels inside and it was very sour. I did not like it. But then I grew up. Once my mother lived in Hong Kong but she came home for frequent visits. On one visit she brought home two pomegranates for me. That’s when I tried them and fell in love with them. That’s also when I realized that pomegranates are granada locally but the flavors are so different.

To eat my pomegranates I slice off a thin sliver of skin from the top and bottom. Then I slice the skin, like you’re cutting an apple but you only slice the skin, not the whole fruit. I make two slices that divides the fruit into four. Then I crack it open. There you see the ruby red kernels that are beautiful, a lot sweet, a wee bit sour, totally delicious to eat. The fruit is divided into segments by thin yellow skin, which is easy to peel off. Then you come upon a big cluster of red kernels, which you can either kind of pull apart with your fingers or scrape into your mouth with your teeth. When you do this the juice runs down your chin and if you’re not quick enough to catch it with a napkin, down to your white blouse leaving it with red spots. I still don’t know if they can be removed at the laundry. I suggest you don’t eat this enchanting fruit when you’re with other people.  They might think you’re a pig. 

Also pomegranates are expensive. They are approximately P225 each. They are seasonal. They come around Christmas or during winter in other parts of the world and stay only until around late February. They come in season when Persephone is queen of the underworld. I deliberately save money so I can have my one pomegranate a day when it is in season. I so love this fruit that I cannot pass by one without buying.

You keep it refrigerated or away from the light. You can keep it for a month or so. The older it is, the sweeter it becomes. Maybe that’s why I love pomegranates now. They seem to hold an enchanting message for me, that you can get better, wiser, sweeter as you get older, not necessarily crankier, or terminally forgetful.

So I will start saving my money for pomegranates. I believe I see them in November or December. I hope it makes me queen or at the very least lady-in-waiting (i of the Greek underworld or my after-life).

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