Pomegranate Food Lore?

 It's More than Just Pretty... 

In the world of folklore, food wisdom tells us about what we eat. Why we eat a certain dish at a particular holiday or how a specific fruit or vegetable can help us become brave, strong or true. Americans can easily recall the virtue of spinach that cartoon character Popeye the Sailor ate when he had to overcome the evil Brutus. Food has long been perceived as having powers that can be transferred to us once it has been consumed.

Around the world and throughout time pomegranates have been long associated fertility and bounty.  This sweet and brightly colored fruit has appeared as follows:

• In some paintings of the Madonna Virgin and Child of Christianity
• In Ancient Egyptian graves for rebirth in the afterlife
• At Chinese weddings

Considered to be one of the world’s most ancient foods it made its way to the new world via Spanish missionaries, this native Persian fruit continues to be a source of nutrition and lore. If you include pomegranates at your table, take a few minutes to make note of how, when and why. You may find you are keeping the lore alive.