In praise of the pomegranate. Photo by Flash90. Pomegranates (rimonim in Hebrew) add color and symbolism to Rosh Hashana tables worldwide. Here’s why you should try one.
By Viva Sarah Press for Israel21c
Pomegranate season is underway. Markets are teeming with this glorious red fruit, supermarket shelves are packed with pomegranate juices, and cosmetic stores are promoting pomegranate oil-infused creams.
The fruit-with-a-crown is one of the ritual foods for the Rosh Hashana holiday. It is understood to be the fruit that grew in the Garden of Eden and which biblical scouts brought to Moses to show the fertility of the promised land. It is also said to have 613 seeds – corresponding to the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah.
1. Pomegranates are good for you
The pomegranate is known as a superfood. Its jewel-like seeds (arils) have been used for medicinal purposes for millennia. Packed with powerful antioxidants and vitamins, this ruby-red fruit has been shown to be a cure-all for just about any ailment. It helps stomach upsets, menopausal hot flashes, hemorrhoids, conjunctivitis, osteoarthritis, lowers blood pressure, stimulates the immune system, wards off the flu, reduces inflammation, reduces risk of heart disease and lowers cholesterol.
“The peel is good for the heart and blood vessels; the white membrane is good for stopping diarrhea and good for wounds and ulcers of the mouth and throat. The fruit also strengthens the brain, cleanses the body and blood from toxins, and is very good at expelling worms from the intestines,” Merav Altman-Adler, who practices classic Chinese medicine, tells ISRAEL21c.
Pomegranate seeds are beautiful and healthful.
2. Pomegranate juice is heart-healthy
“The most important new issue is the cardiovascular protection of pomegranate,” says Prof. Michael Aviram, head of the Lipid Research Laboratory of Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center and one of Israel’s top pomegranate researchers.
Pomegranate juice packs a high antioxidant potency punch and protects against heart attack and stroke. According to new research coming out of Aviram’s lab and an article he co-authored in Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal in April 2013, this royal red juice has an even higher concentration of antioxidants than other sources of dietary antioxidants such as red wine, grape juice, blueberry juice, cranberry juice and green tea.
3. Pomegranates help combat prostate cancer, diabetes
A Technion-Israel Institute of Technology study led by Aviram showed that the antioxidants found in pomegranate juice may be especially beneficial to diabetes patients. Researchers found that drinking pomegranate juice reduced the uptake of oxidized “bad” LDL cholesterol by immune cells, which is a major contributing factor to atherosclerosis.
“Pomegranate at low dosages is also good for diabetics as the pomegranate sugar is not free (and harmful) but it is attached to the pomegranate’s unique phenolic antioxidants,” Aviram tells ISRAEL21c.
Two other recent studies by British and American researchers show that components in pomegranate juice help prevent prostate cancer metastasis. But Aviram warns that while the fruit juice is beneficial, “Pomegranate is not a magic bullet” in curing diseases.
4. Pomegranates make dessert wine
The Rimon Winery in Israel is one of the world’s top producers of this crimson dessert wine. Father-and-son duo Gabi and Avi Nahmias, from Moshav Kerem Ben Zimra in the Upper Galilee, developed a new strain of pomegranate for winemaking. In 2003, they produced just 2,000 bottles of pomegranate wine to test the market. Today, they ship more than 720,000 bottles across the globe.
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The prominent Israeli ophthalmologist talks about his groundbreaking advances in treating eyes, plus some boyhood misadventures.
There was never a doubt that Michael Belkin would grow up to be a scientist – if he managed to reach adulthood unscathed from the grandiose experiments he staged as a young boy in Tel Aviv.
Now director of the Ophthalmic Technologies Laboratory at the Goldschleger Eye Research Institute of Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center, the prominent ophthalmologist recalls melting down lead fragments from Egyptian bombs to fashion toy soldiers. Back in 1948, when he was just seven years old, who knew that lead was harmful?
He and a friend tinkered in their makeshift chemistry lab at the top of their apartment building’s stairwell, and got into all sorts of creative mischief.
“One time, we blocked the drainpipes from the roof and opened the spigots and tried to make a swimming pool up there until we were caught – fortunately, because the weight would have brought the house down,” he tells ISRAEL21c.
Belkin survived all self-made and external dangers, becoming an internationally recognized, award-winning eye researcher. He has written hundreds of scientific publications and holds many patents for ophthalmic devices.
The former president of the Israel Society of Eye and Vision Research and chairman of TAU’s department of ophthalmology advises several companies in the fields of lasers, optics, ophthalmic devices, pharmaceutics and biotechnology.
Eye health innovator
One of his newest published studies shows that Israel is the only country to have reduced rates of preventable blindness by more than half in the past decade. It is likely that some of the methods and devices Belkin innovated helped to bring about that achievement.
Belkin recently revealed that Israel has markedly reduced rates of preventable blindness. Photo courtesy of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
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A Tel Aviv Bread Story
‘The menu was born out of the kitchen and the bakery, two which seldom meet,’ say the baker-chef pair who opened this bread concept café.
Bread is the start of the story at Bread Story.
Once upon a time, there was a baker and a chef. They wanted to open a Tel Aviv café, but would it be a restaurant or a bakery?
The chef wanted to make comfort food like hamburgers, eggs Benedict and Italian sandwiches. The baker wanted to bake breads and fluffy brioche. Stirring in a few entrepreneurs from Israel’s startup food community allowed the baker and the chef to set up a new concept café called Bread Story on a busy corner near Dizengoff Square.
Bread Story has a tasty beginning, middle and end.
It’s a café where innovative ingredients help bread rise to a whole new level of cuisine.
Chef Yogev Yaros and baker Yaron Schneller pulled ideas from around the world to turn out breads that provide full, hearty meals in their non-kosher establishment, opened less than a year ago and constantly busy.
When you order a hamburger with cheese, condiments including the cheese and fried onions are baked right into the bread. “Basically all that’s left is to serve it up with the burger,” Yaros tells ISRAEL21c.
It’s not just about French toast, but you’ll find that here too.
“I wanted to evoke a memory and create a new experience. The menu was born out of the kitchen and the bakery, two which seldom meet,” Yaros says.
Brioche stuffed with ice cream for dessert
“The interesting thing is when we set out to define our restaurant it became more than Bread Story in name,” he continues. “You can see the story in our dishes from all around the world.
“We have [local Israeli] Druze pita alongside a hamburger, alongside a Tuscan bread salad. So we are aiming for a variety of food right across the board, covering America, Italy and Israel all within our concept.”
If you are looking for happy endings to your meal, there are surprises for dessert, too. “We have a brioche con gelato – a brioche stuffed with ice cream. The ice cream is flavorless, based on simple cream and frozen and stuffed into a brioche with vinegar. It’s ice cream presented in a way that not many people know about.”
At this Tel Aviv café, bread becomes the meal.
