Tip - A GUIDE TO CHOOSING A RIPE PINEAPPLE

ALTHOUGH finding a good melon is generally considered a difficult and chancy proposition, it is child's play compared to the odds one is up against when buying fresh pineapple. That stately leaf-crowned, prickly-skinned fruit with its luxurious, juicy, sweet-sour interior, offers few dependable outward clues to its inner condition, even now at its peak season. Every pineapple found beyond tropical growing areas represents a compromise for two reasons: a pineapple will never become any riper than it was when harvested and a fully ripe pineapple is too fragile to be shipped long distances. Fully ripe means a pineapple that has its full sugar content, but once it reaches that state it is subject to bruises and rot. The quality of a given pineapple, then, depends on the extent of the compromise, and second best is the very best we ever get in New York.
Tags: DIET AND NUTRITION, FOOD AND GROCERY TRADE, VEGETABLES, FRUIT