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Dec 27 2025
Harvest Time for Spain’s Pomegranate: DOP Granada Mollar de Elche
DOP Granada Mollar de Elche is celebrating its harvest season of this designation-protected fruit, which runs from October to January. The soft pomegranate from Elche in Alicante, Spain, is noted for its sweetness and texture - with a unique exterior that ranges from a creamy yellow to an intense red. It is known as the queen of all pomegranates, being the only one in the world with its own DOP, owing to its especially sweet, juicy taste and softness that make it distinct.
Approximately 500 farmers are registered within this DOP and around 3,000 hectares are dedicated to pomegranate growing in the region, with its produce being exported to key markets such as France, the Netherlands and UK, or even further afield to Asia, Canada and Brazil.
This year, chef Begoña Rodrigo of Michelin-starred La Salita restaurant in Valencia, inaugurated the harvest season of DOP Granada Mollar de Elche. Considered to be the best vegetable cook in the EU and second-best in the world, Begoña Rodrigo officiated the event alongside chef Susi Díaz (also Michelin-starred) and the world’s best pastry chef, Paco Torreblanca.
Begoña Rodrigo happily received the honor of being “godmother” of the celebration.
"I'm a brutal defender of vegetables, and I'm going to try to make vinegars from pomegranates,” she said. “We as haute cuisine restaurateurs have the responsibility and the means to make people value these types of products and pay for them."
Begoñia Rodrigo and Susi Díaz and Paco Torreblanca are not the only chefs championing this queen of winter fruits. The soft, explode-in-your-mouth sweetness is heralded by Quique da Costa as “the caviar of vegetables” while Jesús Sánchez of three-michelin starred Cantabrian restaurant Cenador de Amós associates the pomegranate with the start of Christmas time.
Chefs are getting geared up with creative dishes using the DOP Mollar de Elche for the 15th edition of the creative cooking with Elche pomegranates, taking place on December 10th at La Finca restaurant in the region. The best in show from last year was the pomegranate - citrus infusion with maple leaf, created by Ariel Munguia from Restaurante Raza in Valladolid.
The DOP Granada Mollar de Elche geographical area covers 40 municipalities in L'Alacantí, Baix Vinalopó, and Vega Baja. It is, without doubt, the most important producer of pomegranates in the EU.
