POMEGRANATE-NYC's leading source for upscale & gourmet kosher, kicks it up a notch for Rosh Hashanah

With preparations for Rosh Hashanah (eve of Sept 18-20) set to go into high gear, Pomegranate, the city’s leading gourmet kosher marketplace, is rolling out many new and innovative foods and recipes for the High Holidays.

The celebrated store will, of course, offer many of the traditional holiday foods such as freshly baked round challah, a broad variety of pure honey and honey-laced baked goods, as well as creative, home-made take-out using all-natural ingredients.

The pomegranate, for which the store is named, is also eaten on this holiday because it often serves as the new fruit – a fruit not eaten this season – for the second evening of the Rosh Hashanah ritual. Because the fruit also contains many, many seeds, it symbolizes our holiday prayers to increase our merit, just like the multitude of pomegranate seeds. Some say there are 613 seeds in each fruit, the same number of mitzvoth (good deeds) in the Torah.

The pomegranate fruit is native from Iran to northern India and has been cultivated over the Mediterranean region since ancient times. While there are several varieties of pomegranate fruits, there is only one POMEGRANATE -- the leading source for gourmet, all-natural and hard-to-find kosher items. Today an increasing number of people seek kosher recipes that use pomegranate due to the fruit’s health benefits, sweet flavor and colorful appearance.

What better way for POMEGRANATE to celebrate the Rosh Hashanah holiday than with a variety of gourmet foods, events and promotions surrounding the pomegranate fruit.

Shopping at the block-long store on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn will inspire some unique and delicious appetizer, entree and dessert ideas for the Rosh Hashanah menu. For take-out shoppers can select from among Pomegranate chicken, Pomegranate lamb kebabs, Roast beef with Pomegranate sauce, Pomegranate with Basmati Rice, Pomegranate apple salad and Pomegranate romaine salad. Printed recipes will be available to all shoppers for the taking.

For more traditional fare, try your hand at tongue polonaise, chicken marsala, sea bass in tomato sauce or red wine minute steak (all recipes will be available at the store).

Desserts are plentiful at Pomegranate too. Instead of the usual honey cake, try some Honeyed Cigars with Date-Pomegranate Filling, chocolate honey velvet cake or Pomegranate shortcake.
Honey comes in thousands of varieties. There are more than 300 such varieties in the United States alone. They range in color from pale blond to dark walnut, and in flavor from mild and floral to herbal and robust. The taste of this natural sweetener depends on the types of flowers its black and yellow creators frequent. Pomegranate will offer one of the largest and most diverse selections of kosher honey available.

While many also celebrate the holidays with libations (several are now made with pomegranate fruit), you may want to try our alcohol-free Pomegranate sangria, great for adults and kids alike.

Alcohol-free Pomegranate Sangria
1 quart pomegranate juice
2 cups papaya or mango juice
1 orange
6-8 strawberries
2 kiwis
1 mango or papaya
½ cup sugar
Preparation:
Mix juices and sugar until sugar dissolves. Wash orange and berries and slice thinly. Remove mango or papaya skin and cut into chunks. Remove kiwi skin and cut into thick slices. Place all fruit into the juice and let flavors meld in fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight before serving.

Pomegranate Chicken
2 tsp olive oil
1 ½ lbs skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
½ nutmeg
1 tsp turmeric
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup walnuts, ground into a paste
1 cup pomegranate juice
Preparation
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Brown chicken thighs on both sides and transfer to a plate. Add spices and chopped onion to skillet, and cook until onion has softened. Return chicken to skillet; add walnut paste and pomegranate juice. Simmer 20 minutes until chicken is cooked and sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Serves 4-6; Cooking time: 35 minutes.

In the spirit of the High Holiday season, POMEGRANATE will make a donation of $36,000 to the Sephardic Food Fund, and offer wholesale prices to families in need.