How to cook pineapple

The pineapple is a cylindrical fruit that is approximately 4 to 8 inches in diameter and can reach a length of 12 inches, weighing up to 10 pounds. It has a waxy, tough rind covering a juicy flesh that surrounds a fibrous core. The flesh and core range from nearly white to yellow, and the flavor is a combination of apples, strawberries, and peaches.

Family – Bromeliaceae
Scientific name – Ananas comosus

Common name – pineapple

High in vitamin C

Varieties

Three varieties of fresh pineapple are available in the United States. The popular Smooth Cayenne, from Hawaii, weighs 3 to 5 pounds, and its flesh ranges from pale yellow to yellow. The Red Spanish is nearly square and has a tougher shell that makes it well suited to shipping. Its flesh is pale yellow and has a pleasant aroma. Weighing up to 10 pounds, the Sugar Loaf is the largest of the three varieties. Its white flesh lacks the woodiness often found in the core of other varieties.

Origin and botanical facts

The pineapple is indigenous to southern Brazil and Paraguay. Columbus encountered the pineapple on his 1493 journey to the Caribbean and took it back to Europe, from where it spread to many other parts of the world on ships that carried it as protection against scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C. The name is derived from pina, a name given by the Spanish, who thought that the fruit resembled a pinecone.

Pineapples do not grow on trees. They grow on a plant that is technically an herb, with large, waxy, pointed leaves. Each plant bears one fruit in the center, and each pineapple is actually the result of the fusion of many individual fruits. Unlike most other fruits (with the exception of some melons), pineapples do not have a reserve of starch that converts to sugar after harvest. Instead, the starch is stored in the stem of the plant and enters the fruit as sugar just before it ripens completely. As a result, the fruit will not become any sweeter after harvest, so growers must allow the pineapple to ripen on the plant to maximize the sugar and juice content of the fruit.

How to cook pineapple

When selecting a pineapple, choose one with fresh, green leaves and no obvious soft or brown spots, especially at the base. When ripe, the rind can be dark green, yellow, or reddish yellow; however, most pineapples on the market are already ripe, regardless of their color, and should be refrigerated in a plastic bag after purchase. Freshly cut pineapple may be kept, sealed airtight, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Pineapples are consumed fresh and canned and as juice. Fresh pineapple cannot be added to gelatin, yogurt, or cottage cheese because the fruit contains a digestive enzyme called bromelain that can break down the protein in milk, meat, and gelatin and makes these foods watery. However, bromelain is degraded by heat, so canned or boiled pineapple can be used instead. Because of this enzyme activity, fresh pineapples are often used in marinades to tenderize meats and poultry, although meat that is allowed to sit in the pineapple marinade for too long can turn mushy.