The pulp of this tropical fruit contains a complex of nutrients, thanks to which it has healing properties. But not only the benefits of pineapple, but also its taste make people decorate the festive table with them along with other fruits. But since this fruit is exotic, many people have many questions: from how to choose, chop pineapple, how it is useful, to how to serve pineapple on the table.
Pick your recipe
Pineapple is not the cheapest product, and therefore it will be very unpleasant to lose money if the purchase is unsuccessful.
How to choose a pineapple
Let it not seem strange to you that the ripeness of a pineapple depends on its cost directly. The fact is that the homeland of this plant is the far tropics, and delivery involves two options: sea and air. The sea route, of course, will be long, and therefore pineapples are cut off for such transportation completely immature, and even when delivered to our stores they can either be green or, on the contrary, overripe. But the fruits sent for sale by plane are already ripened enough, because the flight is a short-lived business. Transportation by air, of course, is more expensive, but the product in this case will be better.
Now for the details. Pineapples come in many varieties, just like any other fruit: apples, pears, etc. Smaller varieties are considered more delicious, large ones will be less sweet.
The first thing when buying will pay attention to the "Sultan", the green tail of the fetus. Firstly, it should scroll a little, and secondly, its leaves should quite easily separate from the pineapple itself, if you pull them. But be careful: too easily, the tops can be separated from an overripe or, worse, rotten fruit. Leaves should be thick and not dry, not wilted.
Next, examine the fetus itself. Its color may be green even in ripe pineapples, but brown spots can indicate decay that has begun. Then we check the pineapple for density: the ripe one will be soft, but elastic, the hard one should be returned to the counter and continue the search elsewhere.
Smell is another important criterion when choosing. Ripe fruit will have a sweet, delicate aroma, green will not smell completely, but a rich sugary smell will indicate that the process of decay or fermentation has already begun. By the way, the vinegar smell also indicates a fermented fetus.
Well, one more criterion can be added for buyers with good hearing: the deaf sound will belong to the ripe fruit, and the “empty” sound will tell you about the dried up one.
When the question of how to choose the pineapple is solved, the product is bought and brought home, and the time for the solemn feast is approaching, new questions arise: how to peel, cut the pineapple and serve it to the table.
How to chop pineapple
Before slicing a tropical delicacy, you need to free it from the peel. When asked how to peel a pineapple, you can give several answers, it will all depend on how you decide to serve the pineapple to the table.
The first method is quite simple: the fruit is cut into rings and, after cutting, it is freed from the peel. To the table you can serve as whole rings, and cut in half. But this option is not entirely successful, since it is not possible to put such a large piece into the mouth as a whole, and when bitten off, the fruit juice gets on the corners of the lips and causes irritation. So it’s best to choose finer slicing options.
Perhaps the most win-win way is the following: the pineapple is washed, the top is not cut, just the fruit is cut along directly with the tops together. The pulp is carefully removed so that the integrity of the peel is not broken. From the peel, 2 troughs are obtained, with which they are filled with pulp cut into rather small pieces. These pieces will be conveniently eaten, and for greater comfort, you can stick skewers or toothpicks into them.
In southeastern countries, pineapple is almost always cut like this: along with the top, it is cut first in half lengthwise, then each half is cut into 2 more parts. The pulp is delicately removed, which is then cut into slices and laid back on the boat peel. The trick is that the pieces move relative to each other, it turns out very beautifully and not time-consuming.
How to store pineapple
Pineapple is a southern, tropical fruit, and therefore afraid of low temperatures. If it happens that his stay is at a temperature below +7 degrees, then the delicacy will lose its aroma and will be almost tasteless.
At room temperature, pineapple (if it is already ripe enough) is not recommended to be stored for a long time, it must be eaten for several days. If the fruit is already sliced, then it is impossible to store it without a refrigerator at all. The remaining sliced pieces are best packaged either in freezer bags or in special containers and sent to the freezer. In this form, you can save pineapple for up to six months. It is worth considering that when freezing, part of the taste of the product will be lost.
The whole fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for about ten days.
But what if the purchased pineapple turned green? How to store pineapple at home so that it ripens?
Ripening all vegetables and fruits faster (and pineapple is no exception) helps ethylene. Where to get it? Ethylene emit ripe fruits. Therefore, green, unripe pineapples are placed next to ripe apples or pears. You can wrap the pineapple in several layers of paper and simply overlay it with ripe tangerines or oranges.
It is often necessary to check the fruit for ripeness (it is possible by pulling a leaf of leaves), otherwise you can miss the moment and the product will begin to rot.