Pomegranate Molasses

Sweet and tart, with the jammy sweetness of ripe fruit and the tangy bite of an aged balsamic vinegar, pomegranate molasses lends its distinctive flavor to many Mediterranean dishes, including the tomato salad with herbs and pomegranate. Most pomegranate molasses (including Alwadi Alakhdar, pictured) comes from the Middle East, though American versions are now being made in California and Arizona. In the making of pomegranate molasses, the juice of sour pomegranates is mixed with sugar and sometimes lemon juice, then boiled down until it's a thick syrup. The subtly flavored condiment can also be drizzled over ice cream, incorporated into cakes and candies, and added to cocktails in place of grenadine syrup; indeed, old-fashioned grenadine is nothing more than a syrup of pomegranate boiled with sugar.