Winter Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cups of sugar
• 2.5 cm ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthwise, seeds scraped out
• 1 lemon
• 5 large oranges (naveline or blood)
• 2 mangoes, peeled and diced
• 2 firm bananas, peeled and diced
• 5 kiwis, peeled and diced
• 12 kumquats, very thinly sliced ​​into crosswise circles, remove seeds
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds (1 pomegranate)

Preparation:

1. Combine sugar, 2 cups of water, ginger, and vanilla seeds and pod in a saucepan. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest from the lemon and one orange in wide strips. Add to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool completely.
2. Meanwhile, peel the remaining oranges. Hold the orange over a large bowl and cut along both sides of each membrane to release the segments, allowing them to fall into the bowl. Squeeze each empty membrane, squeezing out the juices. Repeat with the remaining oranges. Add the mango, bananas, kiwi, kumquats, and pomegranate seeds and toss gently. Pour the syrup over the fruit and refrigerate overnight.
   
   To release the pomegranate seeds, cut the fruit in four places, and then break it open by submerging it in a bowl of water. Skim the membranes that float to the surface of the water, then drain the water. Add the seeds to the salad.
3. Before serving, remove the citrus zest, ginger, and vanilla bean from the salad. Arrange the fruit and syrup on plates.