I was standing at the kitchen sink, my face splattered in pomegranate juice, when my grandma told me that roadside marketers sell tall glasses of the ruby juice on the Silk Road in China for just pennies apiece. I was elbow deep in stains seeding a pomegranate, and she wandered past me, popping a few of the seeds in her mouth.

“They grow absolutely everywhere,” she said.

She had returned from one of her many adventures on the other side of the world — the ones where she smelled air thick with cinnamon, rode golden camels, and returned with sequined marionettes from Burma.

A few years later, she introduced me to this salsa, which is cool with the icy edge of frozen cranberries and bursting with pomegranate and lime.

Open and seed the pomegranates underwater to avoid getting tiny red polka-dots on your clothing.

Pomegranate Cilantro Salsa

2 large pomegranates, seeded

1 bag frozen cranberries

3 limes, juiced

2/3 cup sugar

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 bunch green onions, diced

2 inches ginger, grated

1 jalapeño, diced

Pour cranberries into a food processor or blender and chop. Add cilantro and mix. Add sugar, lime, and mix again. Pour cranberry mixture into serving bowl and mix in ginger and jalapeño. Stir in green onion and pomegranates.

Serve with tortilla chips (or eat by the spoonful).