Finally over…

It was in June 2020 when my friend/ex-student, Alex dropped by my house to give me a pineapple, a 2.5 kg nanas sawit. According to another ex-student of mine, currently in the fruit business in Kuching, this is the best variety when it comes to pineapples.

I took the crown – the spikes/leaves on top and planted that part of the fruit. Later, I heard that I would have to wait for two years before I would get to see any fruit and true enough, in May this year, after 1 year and 11 months, a little fruit FINALLY appeared. Earlier this month, we noticed that it had grown too big, so big that the plant could not support it and we had to tie strings to hold it up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready yet for the plucking.

Well, the other day, after all this time, way over two years, the time came and my missus went and harvested the fruit…

It had not turned completely yellow/orange but my missus was afraid that if we waited much longer, it might over-ripen and go bad inside.

Usually, when I buy pineapples from the shops, I would ask the seller to peel them for me. I don’t know if he/she will charge me for that or not – I never asked. I just happily paid the total amount before grabbing it and taking it home. I guess I did not have a choice so I had to peel it myself!

Firstly, I cut off the crown…

No, I did not bother planting that, lesson learnt! I sure would not want to wait another two years to get to enjoy the fruit.

Next, while holding on to the stump, I peeled off the skin…

…after which I cut crevices/ridges in the fruit to get rid of the “eyes”…

Once done, the pineapple will look like this…

Lastly, after cutting off the stump, I sliced it up into long slices and removed the core…and then, I cut it further into smaller pieces…

Usually, we would eat it just like that or with rojak sauce (prawn paste) or use it to cook a dish…

It was so very sweet, especially the part that had turned orange/yellow.

I went and googled and found this about pineapples: “Kidney health is extremely important, and if you want to do everything you can to keep them functioning well, incorporating pineapple into your diet is a great way to start. This delicious fruit is packed with nutrients that are beneficial for kidney health, including vitamins C and B6, manganese, and Bromelain.” Needless to say, I ate a lot of the fruit of my labour and seeing that it is good for me, I shall be going out to buy more, that’s for sure.