Scorched pomegranates

The story

I couldn’t help but pay tribute to the pomegranate tree that brings us its much praised fruit in the Old Testament and the Song of Songs, a symbol of eternal youth, vitality, wealth and friendship.

The pomegranate is a fruit-bearing shrub native to Persia. Its Persian origin led the Persians to claim that the fruit eaten by Eve was actually the pomegranate and not the apple!

In Jewish tradition, the pomegranate is a symbol of virtue, linked to the number 613: a pomegranate would have 613 seeds inside it, corresponding to the 613 commandments of the Torah. This is why Jews eat pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah; the pomegranate, thus considered the traditional fruit, is also used for Yom Kippur and Sukkot (the September-October harvest festival). The same Jewish tradition says that at the end of a black fast day it is good to consume pomegranate seeds to celebrate sweet and full life (like pomegranate juice!) and eternal life.