Pomegranates, Definitely Worth The Mess

In recent years, I'd be treating myself to pomegranates from fall to well into the winter, even though they make an awful mess. Experts say that they are extremely healthy. When my father was living with us, we got him pomegranate juice from a neighbor who froze the juice immediately after juicing.

Pomegranates are one of those foods I don't remember at all from the states. I developed my taste for them only in recent years. Early on here in Israel we'd just have one for the "Yehi ratzon*" prayer on the first night of Rosh Hashanah. That was the only time we ever bought and ate them.

This year, the pomegranates I bought for Rosh Hashanah tasted awful, which ruined my appetite for them. I didn't buy any after that. That is until yesterday. I saw some in Rami Levy which looked so good and felt "juicy," the way they should be. Since it isn't an inexpensive fruit I just bought one. I'm so sorry about that. It was totally delicious.

Maybe the ones we got for Rosh Hashanah had been in storage from the previous year... Now, I'm in the market to buy more pomegranates. I hope I find some worth buying.

*May it be Gd's will...

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	346 kJ (83 kcal)
Carbohydrates	18.7 g
Sugars	13.67 g
Dietary fiber	4 g
Fat	1.17 g
Protein	1.67 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1)	(6%) 0.067 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(4%) 0.053 mg
Niacin (B3)	(2%) 0.293 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(8%) 0.377 mg
Vitamin B6	(6%) 0.075 mg
Folate (B9)	(10%) 38 μg
Choline	(2%) 7.6 mg
Vitamin C	(12%) 10.2 mg
Vitamin E	(4%) 0.6 mg
Vitamin K	(16%) 16.4 μg
Minerals
Calcium	(1%) 10 mg
Iron	(2%) 0.3 mg
Magnesium	(3%) 12 mg
Manganese	(6%) 0.119 mg
Phosphorus	(5%) 36 mg
Potassium	(5%) 236 mg
Sodium	(0%) 3 mg
Zinc	(4%) 0.35 mg
Link to USDA Database entry
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Medicinal, Refreshing Jerusalem "Street Food"

There's more to Jerusalem "Street Food" than felafel, shwarma, bourekas and ice cream. One thing I remember from my very first visit here in 1969 was the "freshly squeezed juice" kiosk. Even with the addition of more and more unhealthy foods and 5 Shekel snackbar/restaurants, you can still find an amazing amount of custom juice places with a wider variety of fruits and vegetables for your juice, custom-made.

Way back when it was mostly orange, apple and carrot, but today you can get lots more.

The other day, fighting one of those season-change colds, I decided to lunch on a healthy "medicinal" juice. I went to a kiosk my son recently took me to on Rechov Agripas, just off of King George Street and asked for pomegranate and ginger. The "juicer" -what does one call a person who runs such a business?- told me that with the powerful ginger, I need to add either some apple or carrot juice. I chose the carrot, which is also chock full of vitamins.

I took his largest size cup, which cost me NS25, lots more than I would have spent on a felafel or tuna sandwich. But I wanted something to help flush out or scare away whatever virus had been plaguing my body.

It had a nice powerful taste from the ginger, was refreshing and filling. Just as it was almost ready for drinking, a passerby took a look and asked for exactly the same thing without even knowing what I had in it. Actually, he was an American, and I needed to translate for him. I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did.

Fresh Juice, The Healthiest

After yesterday's visit to Tel Shiloh, I began walking up the hill. I didn't get far. Actually, it was right after I waved my friends goodbye, when I saw something interesting.

I saw a couple of guys juicing pomegranates.



Shiloh has the perfect climate for the Biblical fruits, like pomegranates, grapes, figs etc. And one of my neighbors sells bottled pomegranate juice. Natural health enthusiasts consider it extremely healthy.


I was given a cup to drink.



It really was delicious, and just perfect so soon after the flu.