POM Wonderful

Recently, the generous Ms. Peters from POM sent me samples of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice to review and share. As a big health and fitness buff, I am always glad to show others a better way of living. Devotees will remember the positive POMx review I wrote last year.

POM Wonderful

POM prides itself in using the "Wonderful" pomegranate varietal which POM claims to possess "superior antioxidants, delicious taste, and deep crimson color". Since I come from a strong biological sciences background, naturally I felt compelled to verify these claims by hopping over to PubMed and download a handful of articles. I could bore you all to death with a bunch of bio-babble, but in the interest of time: darker aril (the fruit around the seeds) = better. Indeed, Wonderful does have one of the darkest arils in comparison to other common varietals.

On an interesting side note, one should also juice the peel in order to maximize antioxidant intake. The result is not as tasty as regular pomegranate aril juice, however.

Coincidentally, I grow the Wonderful varietal in my backyard. These are harvested at their peak in October, but because I am due for another long trip, I had to pick some of them early. Now for the test: POM Wonderful VS home-grown/juiced:

POM Wonderful (left) and backyard Wonderful (right)

POM Wonderful comes in a much deeper shade and appears to have been filtered, unlike my home-grown pomegranate juice which is opaque. I do not have access to a lab anymore so I can't say which has more antioxidants, but in my opinion, one would be splitting hairs when comparing the two. Both pack a real punch to boost cardiovascular and prostate health. Researchers have all concluded that pomegranates are the single best source for obtaining antioxidants, surpassing even blueberries, the much touted superfood. All it takes is 8oz. of pomegranate juice daily to greatly reduce arterial plaque, reduce plaque formation, lower your risk for prostate cancer, and even help men with their embarrassing bedroom failures.

But how do the two taste? POM Wonderful is a concentrated dose of juice that is light, crisp and explodes with pomegranate flavor. Its acidity and tartness is akin to cranberry juice but with subtle tannins in the background. Sugar levels are not over the top like many other juice brands. However, the sweetness tastes "synthetic" and "syrupy" as opposed to fresh-squeezed and natural. This syrupy "fake" taste is common in nearly all juice brands and I was hoping POM would deviate from the pack. POM Wonderful does earn major points for not using any added sugar, though. A pleasure to drink. POM's commitment to quality health products is clearly demonstrated here.

But surprisingly, my own fresh-squeeze pomegranate juice is the superior tasting juice. While not as concentrated, it is a much smoother and balanced juice to drink. Acidity is held back and the tartness and puckering feels a tad more subdued in comparison to POM. Tannins are comparable. What really makes this juice shine are the sweetness and mouthfeel. POM's juice tastes synthetic simply because its type of sweetness is so intense and overbearing to the point that it feels like it came from a syrup. My own juice is actually sweeter, and yet it feels more rounded and gentle. POM immediately hits your palate hard while my fresh-squeezed sort of allows itself to spread out and settle. The type of sweetness is completely different. Also, because my pomegranate juice is not filtered, there are more particles present, which contributes to the increased viscosity and smooth mouthfeel.

Blind tastings I conducted showed that some folks prefer POM over my fresh-squeezed juice, but the general consensus is that fresh-squeezed is better. This brings us to a very important point: convenience and consistency VS taste. POM is able to sell a very high quality consistent product year-round at attractive prices, thoroughly trouncing its competitors who needlessly corrupt their products with added sugar and filler juices. In comparison, my home-grown/squeezed juice does taste miles better, but I am limited to a small one-time harvest every year. Then there is the great inconvenience of juicing pomegranates. Believe me, it's a real chore to pick out all the individual aril, crush them, and dispose of the seeds. To make matters worse, one average sized pomegranate yields around 4oz. Sometimes less. There is more work than reward when squeezing fresh pomegranate juice. When preparing juice for my family, it took me 45 minutes to pick out all the aril, another 30 to juice them, and less than one minute for my family to finish it all--three cups.


Next time I'll just buy a bottle at Costco.

Nine-Ten

Plenty of over-rated restaurants in La Jolla. Nine-Ten isn't exactly one of them, though this is really up for debate. Here's a bargain $30 three-course lunch I was able to enjoy towards the end of July.

pre-meal simple carbohydrates

Organic green salad

Very light and subtle dressing. Faint taste of shallots and maybe champagne vinegar. Well balanced acidity and sweetness. Most leaves were fresh and crisp (as they ought to be) but I found a few wilted ones in the mix. Wasn't so pleased about that. The hearty and robust olive oil drizzled on crostinis provided a bold contrast to this starter.

Duck confit

While the duck confit is impeccable, it is my opinion that the accompanying arugula salad steals the limelight. The combination of flavors and textures was just brilliant. One should expect no less from a restaurant of Nine-Ten's caliber. Pungent goat cheese is cut by puckering pickled onions whose acidity is dampened and smoothed out by delicately sweet plums. A well thought-out harmony of flavors. Texture runs the gamut from the soft cheese to the crispy nuts. Definitely an exciting salad. And needless to say, Nine-Ten's duck confit is prepared with the same high standard in mind. Use of a knife is wholly unnecessary for the meat needs only gentle encouragement from a fork to fall cleanly off the bone. It is seasoned precisely to my liking while holding back on the salt. Compared to 1500 Ocean (too salty) and Avenue 5 (slightly too heavy on seasonings), Nine-Ten strikes a medium between the two.

Peach crisp w/ cherry ice cream

Epic is the word that comes to mind when shoveling down this behemoth. The light and airy ice cream gives your tongue a brief respite from the thick warm syrupy peaches underneath a layer of vanilla-scented granola. This is truly the epitome of comfort food. Sinfully good. I dare say it offers real stiff competition for my idol Mariah Swan's desserts. Easily makes my top five.


Nine-Ten has received much accolade over the years and it isn't hard to see why. However, I believe that the restaurant should improve upon several key issues. First, wilted greens in a salad is unacceptable. Second, service ranges from spotty to over attentive. Third, my water glass does not fill itself so any help is appreciated. Lastly, pacing needs significant work. I felt rushed when my duck confit arrived as I was finishing the last 40% of my salad. Despite these stumbles, lunch at Nine-Ten was a pleasurable and relaxing experience akin to a refreshing day at the spa. I want to give Nine-Ten the benefit of the doubt and say that it was an "off day" and that my server simply was not up to standard. Surely such great food does not get paired with questionable service! Only a second visit will tell, I suppose.

On a side note, I attempted to contact general manager Neal Wasserman for a digital copy of the menu I perused during my visit since the Nine-Ten website menu does not reflect the one I browsed. It would have been tremendously helpful in identifying ingredients and presenting additional dishes to 5-dS readers. Unfortunately, Neal completely brushed off my sincere, polite, and very flattering e-mail. What an insult. Even a simple "sorry I don't have time for amateurs like you" as a reply would have sufficed. Why on earth would management ignore a potentially loyal customer capable of generating favorable reviews to hook the general populace? Honestly, this experience makes me think twice about coming back.




Nine Ten
910 Prospect St
La Jolla, CA 92037
858.964-5400

Eclipse Chocolat (Summer 09)

I've been singing praises to Will's dessert cafe Eclipse Chocolat for almost two years now and with good reason. Though I am a self proclaimed sugar-fiend, I don't enjoy desserts just for their sugar content. I want various harmonized flavors to accent a dessert with sugar as a compliment, not the main event.

Eclipse has adopted a new system for its famed seasonal dessert plates. In the past, items from dessert plates were unique to that season. Thus, if you particularly enjoyed something, ya got no luck in seeing it ever again. Now, however, there is a rotating selection of six items (choose four) that make up the dessert plate, guaranteeing new experiences as well as trusty old stand-bys.

On my most recent visit (July 09), I had the pleasure of enjoying Eclipse's new gelato sandwiches (gelatowiches) along with Will's phenomenal bread pudding, which friends and I just can't get enough of. We'll skip over the bread pudding and focus on gelatowiches since I've raved and rambled about them far too much in the past.

Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwich - bourbon caramel gelato

Best of the two. Firm yet soft and yielding cookies are the star in this creation. It has been almost a month since this photo was taken, but I distinctly remember rich, fragrant flavors of brown sugar, sweet malts, caramel, and perhaps some cocoa. Dunno about ginger though...*@#$^!!! This is what happens when one puts off a blog entry for too long. Well what this means is, you guys get to go buy one and give me additional details. That way I can both taste it vicariously and provide a thorough review!

If Eclipse Chocolat had the option of shipping these babies, I'd probably order a dozen.

Sea Salt Nib Ice Cream Sandwich
cyprus sea salt, cocoa nib-flecked cookies, banana-brown sugar gelato

Excellent combination of flavors, though this particular gelatowich was a touch too salty. Creamy malt and banana flavors dominate the palate with a brown sugar backbone while cocoa nibs and sea salt accent each bite. Cookie consistency and moistness were spot-on--soft and chewy with enough structure to hold this behemoth together.

The two featured sandwiches were plated with a not-to-be-missed mixed berry and sticky toffee bread pudding, but they totally stole the show. They appear as "normal" 3-4 mouthful sandwiches, but make no mistake, each beast of a gelatowich is the size of my palm.
You could share with someone, of course....but that just leaves you with less gelatowich to enjoy.

Life's too short for sharing. Order a plate for yourself and tell your friends to get with the program.



Be sure to check out my other Eclipse Chocolat posts to see what you've missed in the past year and a half!



Eclipse Chocolat
2121 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, California 92104
619.578.2984

South Bay Greek Festival

Oh lordy it's been over a month since my last entry! Anyone still even read my silly little failure blog? In my defense, it's been an awful summer for blogging. Abandoning my medical science background to pursue a completely different career was no small feat. Tremendous amounts of time and energy spent there... Then there was me researching and sinking a motherload into the stock market in June/July (superb shopping time). Poof went the summer/fall blogging fund. On the bright side, I'd make a real tidy sum even if I sell right now! ;D

Still, I found time and redistributed funds to introduce friends to good eats and drinks. Heck, I've always enjoyed and deeply appreciated it when Charlie showed or even treated me out to phenomenal gastronomic experiences so I too began to edumacate my pals about the joys of good eating. Thought I'd give friends a peek at Greek food.

Every summer, St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Redondo Beach hosts the South Bay Greek Festival. Three days of Greek food/beer/wine, live music, dancing, arts & crats, etc. Admission is $2 but you can print out a coupon on their website to get in free if ya don't like donating to church. Food isn't exactly cheap if you want to get filled up. I ran a $25+ tab without breaking a sweat. Worth it? For the most part, yes.

Lamb souvlaki $7+?

I bought this first and friends followed my example. I really wish they hadn't. These hunks of meat were so dry that with each chew, more and more fibers worked their way in between my teeth. Hella annoying since I don't have carry a man-purse stocked with dental floss. It was a shame (more of a waste), really. The herby rub they used was quite good. Too bad folks working the grill left the meat on too long. Those jerks. It's a crime to ruin good meat. Punishable by...um...eating the ruined meat.

Fried Calamari $6

A winner! Delightfully light crispy batter tossed with a lil bit of salt and dry herbs. Could easily give good restaurants a run for their money. Loved the texture--perfect balance of crispy n chewy.

Bit of this n that

Yes yes I know. The photo took zero amount of thought and planning. But can you blame me? I just wanted to dig in! Photoblog be damned. There are only four items here since I decided to go bananas on sweets. Of the four, I'd have to say I particularly enjoyed the mousaka (think lasagna, sans sauce), which was incredibly cheesy n creamy. Gonna try my hand at making this at home soon. Close second is that fat meatball (soutzoukakia?) cooked in a thick rich tangy tomato sauce. Loosely packed and plenty juicy. Reminded me of those awesome hamburgs (no thats not a typo) sold from Maestro in Mitsuwa, Costa Mesa. Not sure what was mixed into the ground beef, but it was damned good. Definately did not enjoy the dolmathes. Way way too much olive oil. Like em better at Christakis in Tustin. Gawd I miss that place.

Had the opportunity to try the roasted chicken, and I give it an A+. Crisped skin, succulent meat, and well flavored throughout. Can easily hold its own as an entree in a good restaurant. Extremely impressive considering that it was made in bulk.

Not pictured is the effing huge tub of rice pudding (risogalo) I bought. Milky, spiced with cinnamon, creamy texture. It was kinda like Kheer-light. So did I finish that huge tub o pudding as well as all the other stuff I bought? You betcha.

dessert pastries!

Woulda been nice if I were able to plate these individually at home, but they didn't last long enough. Ate half of each while buzzed at 2 or 3am and tore into the remainder seven hours later so forgive me if my memory is a bit fuzzy. Baklava was spot-on. Can't believe it (or any of these) was homemade... The kadaifi (hairy lookin' one) was particularly fun to eat. Loved 'em all! Made a mess of myself while eating the kourambiethes (powdered sugar on top of a pastry cookie) though. Know the sad, longing feeling when you realize a great meal is coming to an end? That's how I felt as I finished the remaining pastries. Buying two boxes next year.


Walking around, I came across this:

So then came the intense internal struggle: $5 and settle for the small? Or go balls out as I usually do and blow $10 on a monster sugar rush? Oh jeez oh no it's almost my turn to order!

Loukomathes

Yeah I'm surprised too. I demonstrated uncommon restraint and went with the small. My god this dessert was awesome! Amazing how such a simple pleasure--syrup drizzled over donuts with a dash of powered sugar, cinnamon, and pistachios--can bring me so much happiness and get me all giddy with glee. $5 buys enough for one to enjoy and share with others. Doesn't last nearly long enough, though.


Shoulda went with the large.
@#$*&@*!!


Not a bad way to pass an evening. Now that I'm more familiar with what the festival has to offer, next year will be an even better experience as I pick through the goodies and turn my nose at the baddies. ...G'damn that dry kabab. C'mon!





South Bay Greek Festival @ St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Chuch
722 Knob Hill
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
310.540-2434