excellent Taste, pleasant Smell, and curious Shapes
January 11, 2025 3:44 PM Subscribe
The pineapple is a tropical plant indigenous to South America. After being brought to Europe, techniques were developed to grow it in colder climates including the use of fermenting horse dung to keep the plants appropriately toasty. Pineapple contains protein-degrading enzymes and so is good at tenderizing meat and ruining Jell-O desserts. It's also fairly acidic, which makes its juice useful for kicking off a sourdough starter. There's a lot to be said about their taste, but are pineapples really delicious?
"2 Types of pineapples but not the same"
[they are both delicious]
posted by chavenet at 4:01 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
[they are both delicious]
posted by chavenet at 4:01 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
Back in the 1970s I traveled to Yucatán, visiting areas not yet overrun by tourists. The local fruits were astonishing and the small pineapples in particular were succulent beyond description, juicy with the sweetness of honey and flowers. No pineapple that I’ve had since can quite measure up.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:26 PM on January 11 [13 favorites]
posted by kinnakeet at 4:26 PM on January 11 [13 favorites]
but are pineapples really delicious?
Pineapples, 1
Betteridge's Law, 0
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 4:45 PM on January 11 [27 favorites]
Pineapples, 1
Betteridge's Law, 0
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 4:45 PM on January 11 [27 favorites]
Yes, they’re absolutely delicious. Especially with coconut cream and rum.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:53 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 5:53 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
They do make the tongue tingle.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:57 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:57 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I'll let you know in 13 months, which, I estimate is when my first home-grown pineapple will fruit.
I'm very curious to see how it turns out.
posted by chromecow at 6:05 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
I'm very curious to see how it turns out.
posted by chromecow at 6:05 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Pineapple- Pen.
posted by clavdivs at 6:35 PM on January 11 [6 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 6:35 PM on January 11 [6 favorites]
Mr. eirias likes to buy pineapples on the discount rack, cut em up and stick em in the food dehydrator until they’re chewy. SO GOOD
posted by eirias at 6:50 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
posted by eirias at 6:50 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
Not a pineapple fan at all until I lived in Thailand. Totally different fruit experience. Sweeter than honey, no acidity, more tender.
posted by mygraycatbongo at 7:01 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by mygraycatbongo at 7:01 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I like to caramelize pineapple in a frying pan - no fuss, just a bit of olive oil or butter and heat on medium until the color changes. This denatures the protein that makes your tongue tingle. It is the warmest, sweetest, most delicious food in the world.
posted by prefpara at 7:06 PM on January 11 [9 favorites]
posted by prefpara at 7:06 PM on January 11 [9 favorites]
God tier fruit. Saving grace of the dreaded fruit salad. My parents were allergic -- somehow I am not? -- and I still find them kind of a forbidden delight. They're always particularly cheap around Christmas and every time I buy one it's a "treat yourself" moment.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:50 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:50 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
Yes, they’re absolutely delicious. Especially with coconut cream and rum.
Did you catch the first reference in that article?
posted by TedW at 7:53 PM on January 11
Did you catch the first reference in that article?
posted by TedW at 7:53 PM on January 11
I grow pineapples indoors under lights. The quality of a properly ripened pineapple is so much better than the underripe ones from the grocery store. My last few fruits ripened to a golden color and they had a coconut flavor to them and were also very fragrant.
posted by GiantSlug at 8:35 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
posted by GiantSlug at 8:35 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
Yup. I worked 10 years in retail produce, and let me tell you, a good pineapple sample sells a heck of a lot of pineapples. Also, if you cut them up and put them in a plastic tub, you can mark them up ...a lot. A lot. And you will have a hard time keeping the display stocked. People LOVE pineapple.
They're also a lovely fruit from a ripeness point of view, because they very reliable get sweeter as they go from green to yellow to brown. They do eventually become overripe, but IMO, they're best just before then, when they're a nice gold with a touch of brown, and the top leaves are probably too withered for retail display.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 8:37 PM on January 11 [10 favorites]
They're also a lovely fruit from a ripeness point of view, because they very reliable get sweeter as they go from green to yellow to brown. They do eventually become overripe, but IMO, they're best just before then, when they're a nice gold with a touch of brown, and the top leaves are probably too withered for retail display.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 8:37 PM on January 11 [10 favorites]
I was reading a Regency romance the other day, and the main character was experimenting with crossbreeding pineapples in a greenhouse in England. She referred to the greenhouse as "The Pinery." One of the new crazes from the New World.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:12 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:12 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
The ones I grow certainly are!
posted by billsaysthis at 10:29 PM on January 11
posted by billsaysthis at 10:29 PM on January 11
I really enjoyed the second link about how they were historically grown in Britain, including current attempts in a restored pinery.
posted by demi-octopus at 12:39 AM on January 12
posted by demi-octopus at 12:39 AM on January 12
I love the idea of growing a pineapple indoors but after briefly researching I see they need to be maintained at a temperature between 65-75°F. Our thermostat is set down to 62 F overnight during the Winter and I don’t see my spouse agreeing to turn it up to 65 just to grow a plant, even with delicious fruit.
posted by waving at 12:44 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
posted by waving at 12:44 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
So expensive and desirable was the pineapple in England that they would sometimes be hired for display at prestigious banquets
Even today a symbol of hospitality, and I know many a bartender with a pineapple tat lurking somewhere on their bod.
(Also: I remember the tiny pineapples I had in Indonesia that were simply amazing.)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:30 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
Even today a symbol of hospitality, and I know many a bartender with a pineapple tat lurking somewhere on their bod.
(Also: I remember the tiny pineapples I had in Indonesia that were simply amazing.)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:30 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
I don’t see my spouse agreeing to turn it up to 65 just to grow a plant
Grow tents are a thing thanks to legions of clandestine cannabis growers, and you should have no trouble keeping the interior of one of those 3° or more warmer than your house. Just the waste heat from a couple of LED grow lamp panels and their driver bricks would be enough as long as you're reasonably gentle with the ventilation.
posted by flabdablet at 5:17 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]
Grow tents are a thing thanks to legions of clandestine cannabis growers, and you should have no trouble keeping the interior of one of those 3° or more warmer than your house. Just the waste heat from a couple of LED grow lamp panels and their driver bricks would be enough as long as you're reasonably gentle with the ventilation.
posted by flabdablet at 5:17 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]
Yes, so delicious. Especially on pizza, no matter what chemists, food critics and ninja turtles say.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 5:35 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 5:35 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
I've never had a tasty pineapple. I've only bought from grocery store. They tend to be fibrous and are difficult to peel. Maybe if I got one fresh from a pineapple stand in Hawaii I would like them.
posted by Czjewel at 6:52 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 6:52 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
Y'all are so rich you can afford to eat your pineapples instead of renting them by the hour?
posted by autopilot at 8:33 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
posted by autopilot at 8:33 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
Delicious grilled on an open fire with a sprinkling of paprika.
Pineapple lilies are currently flowering at our local botanical gardens - I love when plants play dress up as other, completely unrelated plants.
posted by toebeans at 11:01 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
Pineapple lilies are currently flowering at our local botanical gardens - I love when plants play dress up as other, completely unrelated plants.
posted by toebeans at 11:01 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
so delicious. Especially on pizza
and in hamburgers.
posted by flabdablet at 11:02 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
and in hamburgers.
posted by flabdablet at 11:02 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
I showed the last link -- a journal article titled "Are pineapples really delicious?" -- to my son, a history buff (it's a history article, mostly).
He said, "Oh, yeah, the fruit that digests you." I said, Whaaaaaat? He said, that tingling sensation when you eat it is the enzymes in pineapple attacking your mouth. We skim through the article and sure enough:
"It certainly never occurred to your author to describe this hearty meal as being especially delicious, even if the combination of ingredients can be seen as making sense both in terms of the pineapple's sweetness cutting through the saltiness of the ham, while the bromelain (a protein-digesting enzyme) in raw pineapple helps to tenderize and marinate meat."
Still, I concur with the majority of commenters: Pineapple is delicious. And even though I too worked in a produce section (briefly, a summer job), I never knew the tip about how they're sweetest when they're gold to brown. Thanks!
posted by martin q blank at 12:30 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]
He said, "Oh, yeah, the fruit that digests you." I said, Whaaaaaat? He said, that tingling sensation when you eat it is the enzymes in pineapple attacking your mouth. We skim through the article and sure enough:
"It certainly never occurred to your author to describe this hearty meal as being especially delicious, even if the combination of ingredients can be seen as making sense both in terms of the pineapple's sweetness cutting through the saltiness of the ham, while the bromelain (a protein-digesting enzyme) in raw pineapple helps to tenderize and marinate meat."
Still, I concur with the majority of commenters: Pineapple is delicious. And even though I too worked in a produce section (briefly, a summer job), I never knew the tip about how they're sweetest when they're gold to brown. Thanks!
posted by martin q blank at 12:30 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]
🍍
posted by HearHere at 12:33 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]
posted by HearHere at 12:33 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]
I like to caramelize pineapple in a frying pan...
This appealed to me so much that I went out and bought a pineapple today.
posted by MtDewd at 2:00 PM on January 12 [2 favorites]
This appealed to me so much that I went out and bought a pineapple today.
posted by MtDewd at 2:00 PM on January 12 [2 favorites]
a good pineapple sample sells a heck of a lot of pineapples
As a child I thought pineapples were just those bland things with an unpleasant texture that I got in fruit cups sometimes. Then one day after I'd gotten out of school, I walked to a grocery store across the street for a snack, and there was a woman at the front offering pineapple samples. I only took one because it was free and the woman was so nice. I still remember that amazing first bite. It was like seeing pineapples in color for the first time!
posted by birthday cake at 6:02 AM on January 13 [2 favorites]
As a child I thought pineapples were just those bland things with an unpleasant texture that I got in fruit cups sometimes. Then one day after I'd gotten out of school, I walked to a grocery store across the street for a snack, and there was a woman at the front offering pineapple samples. I only took one because it was free and the woman was so nice. I still remember that amazing first bite. It was like seeing pineapples in color for the first time!
posted by birthday cake at 6:02 AM on January 13 [2 favorites]
« Older Never quite caught on in the United States | "This soldier will in honored glory rest under my... Newer »
Like other fashions, interest waned once the trend became commonplace, and the decline of the long standing craze for British grown pineapples was mainly brought about by saturation of the market by cheaper fruit imported from the Azores. Consequently, the demand for home-grown pines rapidly declined. The final blow to this horticultural luxury was the First World War. The specialist skills and experience required to reliably grow a good crop of pineapples perished along with a vast number of estate gardeners.
posted by a feather in amber at 3:50 PM on January 11 [8 favorites]