The pomegranate

We know this fruit called “granada” in Spanish, which I confess to love and to eat it very often in Summer. I have always thought that its name may have came from the name of an Andalusian city, Granada, that is, I thought that that fruit would be very famous there and thus its name, but I was wrong. The pomegranate, as it is called in English, has Asian origins, its history goes back several centuries before Christ. It was traditionally regarded as a symbol of love and fertility. The Arabians were the ones who introduced it to Spain. Gonzalo de Berceo cites it in his poems (thirteenth centur), in which he calls it the “thousand grains” or “la mil granos” and from that expression emerged its name. Then, the pomegranate was taken by the Spanish in America, where that fruit now occupies large areas, especially in the Pacific coastal areas from California to Chile. Finally, the Arabians christened with its name the wonderful city of Granada in Spain.