"The unexpected joy of combining pomegranates with traditional pasta" Wix AI
Wix has taken to generously providing me with three AI suggestions for blog titles, every time I start a new post. I have been collecting the ones that caught my eye - for all sorts of reasons - and I am planning to do a post on the whole thing. However, today the one I have pasted as the quote for the day as it were, which popped up as I was about to write about something else altogether, was, to me, so very AI, that I just had to take their advice and go there. And just to complete the AI thing - the photograph above is AI generated from Freepik which seems to be an organisation that does these things.
'Unexpected joy' has become for me an example of a regular quirky sort of robot trying talk like a human thing, that these AI suggestions often have. Not that 'unexpected joy' in itself is non-human, but when related to the rest of the statement it sort of is. It's not quite what a human would say is it?
Imagine my unexpected joy therefore when I found that pomegranates and pasta is actually a thing - even a traditional dish in Syria called Hurrak Osbao:
"which means ‘burnt fingers’, in reference to it being so damn tasty you can’t help but go straight in with your hands." Rooted Spices
And doesn't it look wonderful? The English translation of the title is Syrian Spaghetti with pomegranate and lentils. Who knew that pasta with pomegranates was so widely known that it has become part of a traditional Syrian dish?
Syria indeed has had such a tragic recent history - still evolving with contradictory hope and worry - that Ottolenghi - yes this is not an Ottolenghi free week - made his own version - Lentils and pasta with tamarind, sumac and pomegranate - which is presented on the British delicious. website with these words:
"Yotam Ottolenghi’s flavoursome pasta recipe, made with pomegranate molasses, sumac and garlic, was created for the #CookForSyria campaign to raise funds needed to aid children in Syria (and surrounding countries) who have been displaced by war."
It looks to be a pretty traditional take on the original, but it's Ottolenghi, so I had to include it, and it's also a reminder of how food plays a vital role in every upheaval the world has ever known, mostly because such upheavals mean less food, but also how food can provide comfort and continuity where there is none.
Now the author of my original version of this traditional dish (Rooted Spices) does admit that they have upped the pasta component but it is indeed an actual Syrian dish and below there are four examples - there are many more. The first Harak Osbao from a lady called Hadia is probably the most authentic - and she says that it is a kind of stew - but the ingredients are pretty much the same. The other three use pomegranate molasses as the pomegranate part rather than the seeds, and the pasta they use is more of the chunky kind than the long kind. Caramelised onions also seem to be a regular component, and also pita chips. The Saveur version - Hora’a Osbao (Syrian Lentil Salad with Cilantro and Pita Chips) turns it into a salad, and the other two also highlighted the vegan nature of the dish: Syrian pasta with lentils and caramelised onion - Zen and Zaatar and Tangy harak osbao - Lets Go Tomato. That presentation of the dish in rows of separate ingredients was a common one although sometimes to a much lesser degree.
But that 'joyful combination' has found lots of other ways of expressing itself. Many more than yesterday's pomegranate and watermelon, which was a very disappointing exercise for me, and probably for you too. Not super well-written and also not very inspiring dishes.
And then, in a neat reversal of the Middle-East appropriating pasta - they would probably say it's the other way around - the Italians - on the Italian website La Cucina Italiana appropriates pomegranates to make Bucatini with chicken, pomegranate and crispy breadcrumbs. As well as the chicken there are Italian black olives and pistachios - though who claims the pistachios I do not know.
And for the rest? Well there is a seemingly endless variety of suggestions, which is sort of intriguing. Some of them are from AI - below a few of the AI picture suggestions - no recipes but 'joyful combinations' you could work on. Since the original idea was AI I just couldn't resist including these AI generated photographs:
What is sort of interesting about them is the hyper-reality of the photographs - somehow not quite real.
Real people, however - mostly lesser-known blogs, have more real looking things and there's a lot of imagination at work out there. Below is a tiny selection of what is out there: Salsiccia pasta with cabbage and pomegranate - MindFood; Vegan spaghetti aglio e olio with delicata squash, kale and pomegranate - Blissful Basil; Pomegranate, ricotta and walnut spaghetti - Tesco; Pasta salad with chicken and pomegranate - The Feed Feed; Roasted Pumpkin, Pomegranate and Pecan Pasta in Sage Garlic Oil - The Feel Good Kitchen; Manchego Brussels Sprout + Prosciutto Spaghetti w/Brown Butter Pistachio Pangrattato - Half Baked Harvest
I confess I experienced quite a bit of joy at the combinations I found, even though that green spaghetti likes a tiny bit evil in a weird sort of Halloween way. I'm guessing it all being down to pomegranate being a fashionable ingredient these days, partly because of the very popular Middle-Eastern cuisine and partly because it's so photogenic.
As I said there are hundreds of other suggestions out there. Watermelon, on the other hand is obviously not a joyful combination for pomegranate.
YEARS GONE BY
December 20 - I really wrote this yesterday, but couldn't quite finish it before going to visit friends.
2023 - Christmas is ... prawns
2022 - Christmas dilemmas
2021 - Nothing
2020 - Dégustation
2016 - Wild plum jam done✔️
Not sure I associate Joy and The Middle East in any sense at the moment, but the dishes do look delicious! 😮