Rare Produce Find: Pomegranates in Cebu

I’ve never tasted pomegranate my whole life, not until around two weeks ago when I decided to prowl the corners of Carbon Market. I usually visit Cebu’s mother of all wet markets on a Sunday afternoon. After an hour or so of going around, I always end up with a bagful of semi- fresh produce. Sunday Carbon Market visits used to be an activity that I share with my teammate for life (let's abbreviate it to TML :D ). Yet, he’s now an ocean away (I’d also like to say that he’s an airline promo fare away too ha!) but I still find myself wanting to go to Carbon despite the lack of company and personal kargador.

So going back to pomegranates, I was already about done with my purchases that afternoon. As far as I can remember, I already had camote, kalabasa, avocados, parsley, cabbage, pechay, camote tops, banana blossoms, sikwa, and turmeric in my loot bag when I spotted this produce which I thought was passion fruit. I thought to myself, “Wow, passion fruit in Carbon?!”

For a brief background on why I considered the Carbon Market as the last place I’d found passion fruit, I can say that I have only seen passion fruit thrice: first, somewhere in Busay and it wasn’t even up in a tree, it was almost rotting in the ground and the TML (who can recognize even the most obscure of Philippine fruits because he grew up in the province) identified that it was passion fruit; second, at the produce section of Metro Ayala grocery, and lastly, at the Healing Present organic bistro in Lahug.

“Passion fruit ni Manang?” I asked. The vendor simply nodded and said “Hutda nalang ng upat! Diyes na tanan." Before I could actually think about it, I handed her 10 pesos and off I went.

Surprise, surprise! It turns out that the mystery fruit is actually a... pomegranate! I posted photos of the fruit over Twitter and two of my friends (and the TML also confirmed it via email ) said that it’s locally known as granada.

Now before you actually hit Google and learn more about the benefits of pomegranate, you might want to read this article on exaggerated claims on the fruit’s health benefits. It pays to be skeptical once in a while.

And yes, I have now experience firsthand the frustration of getting the seeds out of the fruit, so make your life easier by following the tips in this post.

Happy pomegranate hunting! :)

I’d Rather Go Home and Eat Camote!

Go home and plant camote!

This local remark, humorous but with a tinge of rudeness, is often addressed to students who do poorly in school, failing to meet scholastic expectations. Born and raised in the city, I grew up with the idea that a farmer’s work is reserved for those who doesn’t have the means to get themselves a decent education and later on, find a job which doesn’t involve plowing the fields and getting yourself toasted for hours under the sweltering heat.

But boy was I wrong. If you’d ask me now, I’d rather live in the countryside and have my own piece of land where I can plant camote the whole year round. Now that I’m in my twenties, our local farmers are now my heroes. I envy those who have the luxury ( it is indeed a luxury!) to actually plant their own food and cook them come harvest time.

An Underrated Local Produce I don’t have the statistics to back me up on this claim but I think camote is one of those underrated local produce we have in the Philippines. People in the city, I observed, tend to bypass stalls displaying the local camote in all its glory,  in wet markets and groceries alike. If only the camotes could talk. They’d probably scream at you and say, “Hey you! Come eat me! I swear you’ll lose some extra pounds if you can just spare me a minute to explain.”

Scratching Out the “Lowly” Image
The association of camote to being a poor man’s food or something that should be left alone for the mangbubukids to eat is probably one of the reasons why camote doesn’t get the attention it truly deserves. Being able to afford and buy rice (and maybe some whole wheat bread or whatever your choice of carbs) is akin to being a status symbol amongst our countrymen. So, for most of us, why the hell should we buy camotes when we can afford to buy rice which our taste buds are more used to? Why should we bother taking some boiled camotes to work for snacks when we can simply head off for the nearest 7-11?  

You might be surprised to find out that Manny Pacquiao regularly includes camote in his diet. To further convince you that camote, from now on, should be a regular on your to-buy list, this WholeFoods.Org nutritional profile on sweet potatoes will surely win you over!

There are probably a hundred more online sources out there which talk about the nutritional benefits of camote which comes in different colors and varieties. Also, if you would just creatively exercise those culinary muscles, you can do lots of things with your sweet potato -- fry, boil, bake!  I like to have mine boiled until they’re soft enough be eaten. I could either have them plain or topped with peanut butter. Add in brewed coffee to the mix and I can tackle whatever the day throws at me, taming kangaroos for example.

Now, shall we go home and plant camote then? Count me in!

Photo lifted from here.