You can no longer tell if a pineapple is ripe by plucking out the centre green leaf as all the leaves are lopped off to make them safe to enter NZ (not a grizzle, it spoils the beauty, but it’s a necessary preventative), so how do you tell when a pineapple is ripe? And how do you prepare a pineapple and get out all those pesky bits?
When choosing a pineapple, use colour and smell to judge the ripeness. A good percentage of the pineapple should be yellow (green indicates it is not ripe), but more than anything it should SMELL like a pineapple!
Preparing a pineapple is easy when you know how. All you need is a decent knife, and a little patience. With a sharp and sturdy knife, slice off the top and bottom ends, then slice off the skin in fat strips. Using a small pointed knife, cut out the eyes (the little pesky fibrous pieces and small seeds).
Cut the pineapple in half, then into quarters. Cut off the core from each piece, then cut pineapple into slices. Done!
See Muscovado Grilled Pineapple & Pepper Salad
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