The pomegranate is a fruit, orange to red in colour, with a leathery skin and lots of deep red seeds which sit in a sort of jelly inside the fruit which is, in itself, surrounded by white pith. It has a notably, sculpted calyx. The pink to crimson seeds can be scooped out, avoiding the bitter cream-coloured membrane. This is helped by first rolling the fruit, pressing it lightly, to loosen them.. Alternatively, cut the fruit in half and then whack it with a wooden spoon and the seeds will fly out. To make juice it is necessary to whizz the seeds and then put the pulp into a muslim bag and hang it up for the juice to drip through. The seeds are almost crunchy, and burst with flavour when you snap into them with your teeth. rees are small and compact and can grow well in pots, as long as they are well drained. When I was travelling in Afghanistan in 1978, a friend and I arrived in Kandahar when the pomegranates were ripe. Every market stall was gloriously heaped with them. We tried later to go to Bamiyan and the Ban-di-Amir lakes, but were forbidden access to the area. After some persistence we discovered that there were Russians preventing anyone from going to that region. At least they did not blow up the Buddhas, which I shall now never see.
