Kapalua's Pineapple Plantation

3,200 Acres of Maui Golf
Part 3

by Martha Hollis

Callarec’s Pineapple Chile Compote

• 1 large ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into ½" cubes
• 2 cups water
• 1 ½ cups sugar2 teaspoons chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon fresh gingerroot, peeled and minced
  

In a small pan combine water, sugar, chili, and gingerroot. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add pineapple pieces. Bring just to a boil, then remove from the heat. Place in a glass or nonreactive dish. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. Serve chilled. Makes about 6 servings.

Garde Manger chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Lini Nieto, demonstrated an easy pineapple preparation method. With a 10-inch chef knife she had cut off the top and bottom, placed the fruit upright on a cutting board, and cut off the skin with sequential top to bottom slices holding and turning the fruit with the other hand. She placed the peeled fruit on the side, making on cut from top to bottom. A perfect v-cut on each side of the core enabled it to be removed. Then each half is placed on the board with the cut side down and a series of slices produced perfect half-moons of the delectable fruit.

Gardener’s Note:

Use a fresh pineapple to create your own tropical garden. A member of the bromeliad family, pineapples can be grown as a houseplant in a very sunny location as long as the temperature does not fall below 68 degrees F. First find a fresh, healthy looking pineapple in the market. Cut off the leafy top part and place in a mixture of moist peat moss and sand. After roots have formed, plant in a medium-sized pot filled with quality soil. With regular water and monthly feeding of liquid fertilizer, it can also bear fruit in about two years. The foliage will range from green to reddish-pink.

And there is only one goal for the pineapple’s interior—Gold.

#20#

Images: copyright 1999 SearchWrite

1. Maui Gold pineapple perched in a rosette of foliage

2. Wesley Nahara slices into a Maui Gold pineapple

3. Harvesting pineapples behind conveyor belt

4. Patrick Callarec, Executive Chef, Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui

5. Lini Nieto, Garde Manger Chef at the Ritz-Carlton preparing fresh pineapple

Click on selected photos for expanded view.

Images copryrighted CGA