"Cum Granis Punici Mali"

I have a theory as to why Trimalchio had pomegranite seeds in his "grill," besides to give the impression that the grill was cooking. Pomegranites are associated with Juno and fertility, but they are also associated with Proserpina (anyone think that "serpens" plays a role in her name?) and death and rebirth.
"Nothing in literature happens by accident," or so my favorite high-school English teacher used to tell me. I think Petronius deliberately used pomegranite seeds for three reasons: one, to demonstrate how much Trimalchio is willing to flaunt his wealth; two, to foreshadow how nothing at the banquet is as it seems (like the "eggs" and the pastry phallus full of fruit); and three, to underscore (however subtly) the themes of death and the underworld (the vocabulary of entering the house is like the vocabulary of entering Orcus, and the dog, and of course Trimalchio's obsession with death). Hmm...
Picture courtesy of Wikipedia: