The Jewel on the Plate

Having missed publishing what I think of as the "red" topics, ie Chinese New Year and St Valentine's Day, I have opted to write about pomegranates.

Native to Iran, their use and popularity spread across the continents, being taken on board ships by Spanish sailors anxious to avoid scurvy. Widely used in Middle Eastern dishes, it now pops up in everything from cocktails to savoury and sweet dishes.

Whilst the pomegranate itself is a tough skinned, reddish fruit, it is the seeds within that offer delight. These precious ruby jewels have a fragrant sweet/sharp juice. As a child, I would sit picking them out individually with a needle (top tip for occupying a bored child) but now prefer to cut the fruit in half and tap them out by bashing a wooden spoon against the outside. Not surprising when you consider each fruit holds 840 seeds! The white pith is bitter and should be disregarded.

Halloumi, the star in many of my family dishes, is delicious cooked, served with a minty dressing and scattered with pomegranate seeds, making a fab starter or snack. 

The season in the uk runs from December to March and comes into its own over the festive period when the seeds glisten like tiny baubles. They work particularly well in salads and grain-based dishes.

In Spain they are called "granada" and the word "grenade" is thought to come from the fruit, resembling in shape the early hand grenades and containing a lot of shrapnel (seeds). I would imagine even having an actual pomegranate thrown in your direction would be cause enough for concern.

China in your hand

It feels like the time my 5 year old nephew came home from school and cried, in disbelief, "Do you know what lamb is?"

Well this time it's me crying in disbelief, "Do you know what bone china is?" I really have never put 2 and 2 together and worked out just what it was. 

In case you too are in need of educating, bone china is made using cow bone which is finely ground into bone ash. It is then mixed with other ingredients and fired twice. A high quality bone china will use anything between 30-45% bone. 

Now I say cow bone but an American artist will commission mementos of your loved ones by using their bone ash collected from the crematorium. 

Gobsmacked? Yes, me too. Luckily other products are available; fine china, porcelain, earthenware etc.

Publishing Problems Part 2

There are still issues with publishing my blog, particularly when I try to add photos. Please stick around - hopefully the problem will be resolved very soon.

The thin edge of the veg

Week 4 of LAV (Like a Vegan) and I'm still struggling with some aspects; missing milk, cheese, eggs and honey.

Having said that, I have had some really tasty meals. Favourites included beetroot burgers from Aldi and a vegetable stir fry with rice and quinoa. The stir fry leftovers were added to beetroot hummus and salad leaves and put in a wrap the following day. 

There's something very satisfying about turning leftovers into another tasty meal. It's something which would have been done during the war years when food was scarce and would not have been wasted. Coincidentally The Vegan Society was founded in wartime and was a spin-off of The Vegetarian Society. The founder, Donald Watson, and his wife Dorothy decided on the word Vegan using the first three and last two letters of the word Vegetarian. They said it marked the beginning and end of vegetarian!

Well, this blog will continue as The Vegetarian Tart and not change to The Vegan Tart. I will continue to use some vegan substitutes and enjoy some vegan meals which I hope to share with you. 

Publishing Problems

Sorry readers I'm having massive problems trying to publish - please bear with me - will keep trying!