Exotic fruits you'll love

Pomegranates are about the size of a large orange, and their colour can be anywhere from red to pinkish-yellow. The seeds are surrounded by a translucent red pulp and packed into compartments surrounded by a bitter, white membrane.

The seeds are hard but perfectly edible, although some people choose to spit them out. The pulp itself has a sweet-tart flavour and is nice scattered over ice-cream as a garnish or on salads as a low fat dressing.

To extract the seeds and their surrounding fruit, cut the pomegranate in half, turn it over and whack the back of it with the flat side of a knife. The more stubborn seeds may have to be prised out with the end of a teaspoon, although you give the fruit a gentle squeeze to help them on their way.

You can also buy pomegranate juice and jelly in some speciality ethnic shops. The juice is used to make grenadine, a concentrated syrup used in drinks and cocktails.

Recipe: Pomegranate Ice-cream

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