Yesterday I made my periodic visit to Dunya Market, the Turkish supermarket in Bentley. To my delight, for the first time in Perth I found pure pomegranate molasses (nar eksisi), a stunning and beautiful ingredient for salads, marinades and the like. How good is nar eksisi? Well, if a religionist used nar eksisi as a basis for their belief I would be tempted to convert.

Now, I’m not referring to that more widely available poor cousin called nar eksili sosu (pomegranate flavoured sauce). Anybody who thinks nar eksili sosu is a substitute for nar eksisi should wash their mouth out with soap. They probably also think Creed is a substitute for Pearl Jam.

My favourite use for pomegranate molasses is with rocket salad. Today I made rocket salad to accompany a scotch fillet steak:
– rocket
– roasted capsicum
– garlic bruised and cut finely
– sumac (another super ingredient)
– olive oil
– pomegranate molasses
– chilli flakes
– salt and pepper

2019/05/20 UPDATE

In November 2017 Dunya Foods was destroyed by fire. The shop has now reopened at nearby Unit 1, 1164 Albany Highway, Bentley. It again stocks many Turkish and international foods and supplies, even Argentinean yerba mate tea.

Unfortunately, as of 12 May 2019, they weren’t selling Turkish pure pomegranate molasses (nar ekşisi). The closest items were non-Turkish pomegranate molasses and Turkish pomegranate-flavoured sauce, neither of which are adequate substitutes for the real thing.