Pomegranates are not the prettiest of fruit*. Oh, sure, their seeds (er, arils) are lovely on their own, but as an assembled fruit, they're not all that great. Plus, taking them apart is a pain. The arils will explode upon contact, and squirt their red juices all over whatever white clothing you might happen to be wearing**.

There are two recommended methods of disassembling a pomegranate. The first method is the one recommended by the Pom Wonderful folk. You have to cut open the pomegranate, score out sections along where the natural divisions are, peel sections out, loosen the arils into a bowl of water, scoop stuff out, strain, blah blah blah. It takes forever. For. Ever.

The second way is the way suggested by everyone else. You cut the pomegranate in half, grab a wooden spoon, and thwack the pomegranate***. Sometimes you'll use the back of the spoon, some the edge. Move it around to various parts. You'll get the feel of it. And the arils just fall right out.

The great way about the second method is it's really easy to do. You can feel the right way to hit the pomegranate, and it's very satisfying when the seeds fall out. The other way is just trouble. Don't do it, no matter what the people who sold you the pomegranate say.

*- This opening has started a firestorm of conversation in The Food Geek compound, where Melanie points out that, not only does she think it's a beautiful fruit, but it has been considered in art in culture as being symbolic of, shall we say, womanhood. I can see that, and I completely acknowledge the symbological nature of the fruit. What I'm saying is that there's this internal inedible structure that does not lend itself to being photogenic. It takes a special photographer to do it right, compared with some of the other fruits that do not take the special touch.

**- Which is, I suspect, also part of the metaphor. I'm just sayin'.

***- You people who read the other two foodnotes should stop that giggling. I swear, it's like we're in middle school.