My island love affair...,

Pineapple

My island love affair...,

I had no idea what was coming my way when my hosts sliced that first one! I mean I have had pineapple before, fresh pineapple, lovely juicy fresh pineapple in Hawaii even, but these are like none other. I drive down the road seeing them laying there on the fruit stands, I hear them calling my name from the kitchen counter, and the slices sing to me from their container in the refrigerator. I am obsessed!

Some things I did not know:

Pineapples are not really a single fruit, but a cluster of up to 200 fruitlets, and growing them is a huge time investment with only a small return. The plants

take two years to become productive, flower for only one day and produce only one fruit at a time, and usually not more than two pineapples ever. Once I realized this the $3 pricetag on a lovely fresh pineapple somehow seemed like a great deal. After all it took 2 years to grow and I am really paying $3 for 200 fruitlets, saying it like that makes it suddenly sound cheap!

No wonder this amazing fruit has become the object of my affections.

A little pineapple trivia:

• Pineapples were originally called "anana", which means "excellent fruit" in Caribbean idioms, and were later called "pineapple" by European explorers who found the flesh to be like an apple, and the appearance similar to a pinecone.
• Approximately three pineapples are needed to make one can of slices
• They were so rare in antiquity that they were given the name of "Fruit of Kings"
• Both root and fruit are eaten and applied medicinally as an anti-inflamatory.
• The pineapple design has been associated with "Welcome" in some cultures, where it is carved into decorative woodworking.
• Who...lives in a pineapple under the sea?
  
  
  
  Sponge Bob must be such a nice and
  welcoming guy that
  he chose to live in one.

George Washington was seemingly inspired by the fruit.

And the beautiful pineapple is obviously the reason for Mona Lisa's famous smile.

All moderation aside, the bottom line is, I am in love!!! Luckily for me, the type of pineapple grown locally on the island has an unusually high sugar content and low acid.

Translated: It is super sweet like candy and does not cause canker sores, so you can eat it, and eat it, and eat it with no adverse affects.

I am living proof of this since I have no self control and have eaten no less than a half pineapple myself everyday for 2 weeks, sometimes more. Delish!!