How to prepare a fresh pineapple
TECHNIQUE
If you’re making our star of the season pineapple recipes on p51, you’ll need to get to grips with this knobbly, spiky fruit
1 Slice off the crown of leaves at the top of the pineapple [A], then cut off the bottom to leave a flat base.
2 Sta0 skin by slicing down the side [B].
3 Lay the peeled fruit on its side [C] and cut out the remaining eyes in a series of shallow diagonal strips [D].
FOR RINGS Use a pineapple corer to remove the tough woody core, then slice across into rings.
FOR WEDGES Stand the prepared fruit on a flat end and cut in half, lengthways, then lay the flat side on the chopping board and cut onto 3-4 long wedges. Remove the core from each wedge [E], then halve if required.
TO CHOP Cut across each wedge to make smaller chunks [F] – the thinner the wedges, the smaller the chunks will be. For tiny dice, cut each larger chunk into smaller pieces.