Al-Salt -
In her productive kitchen in the ancient ancient city of Salt, Umm Aws Al-Maadat, 38, volunteers pomegranate seeds to make delicious jam, useful vinegar or a cure for aches, as "the pomegranate tree is generous to its owner," as she tells Al Jazeera Net.
Pomegranate is abundant on rural families in the outlying governorates, providing them with a seasonal source of income during its harvest in the period from August to November of the year.
Umm Aws and Umm Bilal in their productive kitchen during the stages of preparing pomegranate molasses (Al Jazeera)
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee had announced the inclusion of Al-Salt, located northwest of the Jordanian capital, Amman, on the World Heritage List.
Molasses, vinegar and jam
From the early morning hours, Umm Aws opens her day by dismantling the red and yellow pomegranate seeds. She collects the seeds in a bowl in preparation for grinding and filtering them and extracting the pomegranate water from them to make molasses. Umm Bilal al-Rahamna, 62, helps her in this.
The pomegranate fruit is made from several products, including molasses, jam and vinegar (Al-Jazeera)
The rest of the pomegranate, says Al-Maadat, “we remove the seeds and dry them in preparation for planting them in basins to produce new trees during the spring.” As for the pulp of the pomegranate, it adds sugar, and produces jam from it that the family saves for the winter and sells from it in the markets and fairs dedicated to rural products.
To produce pomegranate vinegar, which is known for its health benefits on the heart and intestines, Al Maadat chooses sour-tasting pomegranate, in addition to its production of the well-known traditional folk dishes in the city of Salt, whose production includes pomegranate jam and molasses.
Pomegranate molasses in its stages of cooking, no preservatives are added to it (Al-Jazeera)
Women in productive kitchens make several products from pomegranate fruits, including molasses, jam, and vinegar, and sell pomegranate pulp and peel to perfume shops and medicinal herbs for use in folk recipes.
During the Corona crisis and the accompanying closures and curfews, productive families suffered from a decline in the production of food items manufactured from pomegranate, driven by the weak demand for these products, and the decrease in the purchasing power of consumers, according to women.
The farmer Saud Ghunaimat reaps his pomegranate orchard crop in the Rumaymeen area (Al-Jazeera)
Pomegranate Valley
On the two banks of Wadi Al-Rumaymin, north of the capital, the pomegranate trees intertwine in their orchards extending along the valley, watered by fresh spring waters sloping between the rocks of the valley, the branches of which are bent from their heavy load.
The farmer Saud Ghunaimat, 33, and his brothers spend their day wandering among the pomegranate trees, inspecting the infected ones, supporting the hanging branches with crutches to help them carry them, and picking the ripe ones, in preparation for packing them in boxes and sending them to the vegetable market.
The pomegranate tree needs great care, Ghunaimat tells Al Jazeera Net during a tour of his farm: As soon as the fruits start blooming during the spring, we start spraying the trees to combat the spread of insects, in addition to fertilizing the trees, turning the soil around and trimming them, and the care of the pomegranate continues until the fruit is picked.
The pomegranate tree needs great care that continues until the fruit is harvested (Al-Jazeera)
As for the afflicting diseases, they are numerous - and the hadith of the sheep - most notably the aphid and the pomegranate fly that transmit diseases, which calls for spraying pomegranate trees with insecticides and fungicides every two weeks, in order to preserve the safety of fruits and trees.
There are many types of pomegranate, including al-Raqabi, Melissa, Frankincense, Sour, French, and others.
Pomegranate cultivation is spread over an area of about 17,000 dunums of the Kingdom’s land, which is home to nearly half a million pomegranate trees, annually producing about 45,000 tons, of which quantities are exported abroad, and the rest is used in food and commercial industries.
Pomegranate peels are preserved for therapeutic use (Al-Jazeera)
seasonal occupations
On both sides of the international road linking Amman and the northern governorates, the sidewalks are adorned with pomegranate stands. Majed Al Marashda, in his twenties, stands in front of his pedestal, welcoming customers looking for municipal pomegranates. 500 kg," Al-Marashda says to Al-Jazeera Net.
Al-Marashda sells pomegranates produced by the Jordanian desert in the regions of Mafraq and the Northern Badia. The advantage is that it is seedless, dark red in color and very sweet in taste, so customers from faraway regions visit it to get its delicious pomegranate, according to his description.
Jordan is witnessing a rise in unemployment rates, especially among young people, as the rate reached 50% among the young age groups.
Pomegranate is rich in medical benefits, according to nutrition and alternative medicine expert Omar Abu Salim (Al Jazeera)
disease control
Pomegranate also has nutritional benefits, as it is rich in medical benefits, and it is used - according to nutrition and alternative medicine expert Omar Abu Salim - on a large scale in combating digestive diseases and types of parasites, and cases of cold. Astringents and antioxidants play an important role in fighting infections.
The use of pomegranate residues in treatment is subject to the supervision of the Jordanian Food and Drug Administration (Al-Jazeera)
What distinguishes the local product manufactured by the productive kitchens, Abu Salim tells Al Jazeera Net, is the keen interest of women to manufacture products naturally, and to use the best fruits intended for use.
Away from the use of flavorings or preservatives, in addition to the fact that the majority of these products are subject to the supervision of the Jordanian Food and Drug Administration, which guarantees the quality of the product and its health efficiency.