Maui Jet Fresh Pineapples
Inventory, 12 ct : 0
Description/Taste
Sprouting fresh-looking green leaves, plump and firm Maui Jet-Fresh pineapple enticingly exudes its characteristic sweet fragrance. Compelling and tempting, a whole fresh pineapple produces a greenish to gold prickly rind that encases a light yellow to white flesh. Sweet, but tangy, the flavor of pineapple offers a lush juiciness. The slight difference between Hawaiian and other pineapple varieties is in the eyes! Hawaiian pineapples produce rounder "eyes", otherwise the color, taste and the Brix scale score that measures sweetness is the same.
Seasons/Availability
Maui Jet-Fresh Pineapples are available year-round with a peak season March through June.
Current Facts
Rumor has it that Hawaiian pineapples just may be non-existent in one to three years. Specialty Produce has learned from a reliable source that Maui and Dole, the two largest pineapple growers in Hawaii may leave the area by 2009. The departure is planned to be a slow process due to contracts and eight percent of the island 's residence are employed by these two growers.
Nutritional Value
Offering a good source of vitamin C, with useful amounts of folate, iron, thiamine, magnesium and vitamin B6, pineapple provides soluble fiber. One cup of fresh pineapple chunks contains about 75 calories. Eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables lowers the chances of cancer. A recent study found eating nine or ten daily servings of fruits and vegetables, combined with three servings of low-fat dairy products, were effective in lowering blood pressure.
Applications
For an impressive and festive dessert or breakfast, serve pineapple slices in the shell. Top with a strawberry or pitted cherry. Pineapple especially loves the company of kiwifruit, oranges, bananas, papayas and mangoes. Stir diced pineapple into yogurt. Pair with raspberries and strawberries. Serve slices with lemon sorbet. Enhance flavor with cloves, cardamom, mint and ground or fresh ginger. Try pineapple with a kiss of rum or rum flavoring, orange liqueur or orange juice. Sprinkle with brown sugar; broil or grill until hot. Sweeten vegetables with its juice like sweet potatoes or winter squash. Add its flavor to fish or meat recipes. Add pineapple to a spicy hot chicken sauté made with chili powder and hot peppers. Vinaigrette-dressed turkey or chicken salads love this fruit. Thread chunks on skewers with seafood or chicken; grill. To store, refrigerate ripe pineapple three to five days. Keep in a plastic bag to conserve moisture. Cut pineapple stored in an airtight container keeps about one week.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
Pineapples and bananas continue to struggle in competition for the title of being the most popular of all tropical fruit. Hawaiian pineapples are especially popular for the pure and sweet novelty of this lovely fruit from our gorgeous tropical islands.
Geography/History
A tropical plant, this pineapple loves life in Hawaii. In the eighteenth century, pineapples were introduced into the Hawaiian Islands and the rest of the story is sweet history. Naturally, the pineapple canning industry began in Hawaii in 1892. Singapore also ventured into this larger than life industry around the same time. Becoming Hawaii's principal fruit crop, Hawaiian pineapple producers were the first to can the popular fruit. Because ripe pineapples deteriorate before reaching mainland markets, jets were used to quickly get the ready-to-eat fruit to nation-wide markets and successfully solved the situation. Most Maui Jet-Fresh pineapples arrive within thirty-six hours of their harvest.