As you navigate through the congested grocery aisles at Costco looking for fruits that are going to be sweet but juicy, there's one that people overlook because of its rough exterior: the pineapple, usually going substantially lower than other fruits in quantity, where grapes will be $6.99, organic blueberries will be $8.99, strawberries will be $6.99, organic golden kiwis are like $11.99, heck even a container of Medjool dates are $7.99 or $10.99 depending on the quality......one whole pineapple is under $3. Under $3 for some of the most tropical tasting, watery goodness you'll get at any grocery store, but I often see customers, even the bargain-hunting ones at Costco scrimping off the free samples and $1.50 hot dog + drink combo, passing up the pineapple. I think it's the complexity of cutting the pineapple. In this day and age of "I want it now, streaming, and ready to consume for me with no hassle," people are probably lazy about cutting pineapples. I got news for those people: cutting pineapples is fine. There's something really liberating about cutting a pineapple, scraping through the exterior shell and getting to the juicy center, it's one of my favorite "pasttimes" (MJ had never heard of this word before tonight) I like doing, more than cooking food (just heating stuff up) or washing dishes, I like cutting pineapples. Possibly even more than cutting watermelon and the squishy sound of breaking through the rind into the exterior and looking for the sweetest-looking piece (hint: usually in the exact middle of the fruit). Refrigerate the remainder and they usually last about 5 or 6 different sittings, and all for $2.59.
Pineapple, for whatever reason, has also become the symbol of fertility for mothers trying to get pregnant, and it's big in the IVF community. There's no science or studies showing pineapples actually increase fertility, but it's more of a figurehead for strength and unity and hope in types of trial and tribulation for people who just don't seem to find the spark. There's also no evidence that pineapple DECREASES fertility, which is actually more than people can say for a bunch of American foods, with fried, greasy, microplastics, etc. Honestly, anything that provides a positive placebo effect is good with me, I've heard plenty of stories of people feeling better after just altering their mindset and tricking their bodies into getting healthy, maybe it works with pregnancy.
History of the pineapple: orginated in the Amazon rainforest, and native tribes called it "the excellent fruit," aka nanas, and Christopher Columbus brought it back to Europe ith him and spread it. That's like 3 Jeopardy facts right there. But still, as good as pineapple is, let's just keep it off any pizzas, okay? Two different ethnicites of food there, even though Columbas was Italian (but sailed for Spain).
Hopefully these excellent fruits stay out of President Trump's crosshairs and don't get the 25% tariffs for being imported in! MJ has already warned about certain foods we like going up like avocados. We must have our pineapples!
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