Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine 2015
Welcome to Caribbean Compass, the most widely-read boating publication in the Caribbean! THE MOST NEWS YOU CAN USE - feature articles on cruising destinations, regattas, environment, events...
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SEPTEMBER <strong>2015</strong> CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 30<br />
LOOK OUT FOR…<br />
A Peek at the Pineapple<br />
by Lynn Kaak<br />
As you travel through the <strong>Caribbean</strong>,<br />
every month there’s something special<br />
to look out for. The pineapple (ananas<br />
comosus), while often associated with<br />
Hawaii and the Pacific, is actually<br />
native to South America. The indigenous<br />
peoples of the <strong>Caribbean</strong> carried<br />
and propagated this fruit throughout<br />
the islands of the <strong>Caribbean</strong>, where the<br />
plants continued to flourish. Eventually<br />
the Europeans stumbled upon this<br />
delicious fruit (some say Columbus<br />
encountered it in Guadeloupe in 1493)<br />
and took it to the Pacific.<br />
The scientific name is derived from the<br />
Tupi word for the fruit, nanas, which<br />
means “excellent fruit”. “Comosus”<br />
means tufted, referring to its spiky<br />
crown. Many languages including<br />
French adopted the name “ananas” for<br />
the fruit. The name “pine apple” is<br />
derived from a bit of mistaken identity,<br />
as the Europeans thought that the fruit<br />
resembled a pinecone. The Spanish simply<br />
call it “piña”, and you’ll hear some<br />
folks on the English-speaking islands<br />
also call them “pines”.<br />
The pineapple is a bromeliad, making<br />
it part of a group of plants that originated almost exclusively in the Americas;<br />
Spanish moss is a bromeliad, too.<br />
The pineapple plant itself has a short stalk and large spiky, waxy leaves, and can<br />
attain heights of 1.5 metres (five feet). The plant actually looks quite a bit like the top<br />
of a pineapple. The 200 or so flowers that are produced join together into what will<br />
eventually become the fruit. The ovaries of the flowers turn into berries, which then<br />
coalesce into the flesh that we know of. This fruit grows from the stem, getting taller<br />
and wider with time.<br />
The succulent fruit grows best where the temperatures are 20°C to 30°C (70°F to<br />
85°F), and requires a moderate amount of water, although the plant is able to retain<br />
some moisture in its leaves. Pineapples also love sunshine. It takes roughly 12 to 20<br />
months for a new plant to get to the point that it creates flowers, and six months<br />
more before the first fruit ripen. The first fruit from each plant tend to be small, but<br />
they become progressively larger over the next couple of years of fruit bearing. Small<br />
offshoot growths, called suckers, are also created, and may be removed and replanted,<br />
or left on the plant to create more fruit. A plant can also be started by cutting the<br />
top off the fruit and planting it.<br />
The fruit and plant are good sources of bromelain, a natural meat tenderizer, and<br />
the fruit is considered a natural anti-inflammatory. The qualities that make it a good<br />
meat tenderizer also make pineapple more difficult to work with in gelatins and jams.<br />
Once picked, a pineapple will not become riper, so saving it a few more days after<br />
purchase won’t make any difference in taste; however, it may start to perish. It<br />
should be okay for about two days without refrigerating or about a week if you put<br />
it in the cooler.<br />
Now, piña coladas anyone?<br />
COMPASS<br />
O<br />
M<br />
I<br />
C<br />
EASY-PEASY<br />
ONBOARD<br />
ENTERTAINING<br />
Entertaining guests on board should<br />
never be onerous. As a matter of fact, it<br />
should be just the opposite. It should be<br />
enjoyable for both guests and hosts.<br />
I would often get trapped into thinking<br />
that the most elaborate recipes — taking<br />
much time, effort and expense — were By Ross Mavis<br />
necessary. My wife, however, being much<br />
more intelligent than I, would tell me to ease my mainsheet. “You don’t need to<br />
impress people with your culinary talents,” she wisely would counsel. “Our guests<br />
are here to visit with us first and foremost and any food and drink is an added treat.”<br />
Only after getting much older and should I say, somewhat wiser, my entertaining<br />
efforts have been put “in irons” — and the guests don’t seem to mind. Simple and<br />
succulent, inexpensive and less time-intensive snacks will be met with much favor.<br />
The other evening, we had a few unexpected folks on deck for some cold beverages<br />
and light snacks. The gathering was fun for all and couldn’t have been easier. My<br />
wife opened a couple of tins of smoked oysters and smoked mussels, spread some<br />
lightly toasted rye bread squares with mayonnaise and put an oyster or mussel on<br />
each piece, adding a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs from our potted deck garden<br />
and voila, finger food fit for royalty.<br />
When making a Thai dish for my wife and myself, I toast some extra sesame seeds<br />
and store them in a jar. Then, with little more than the always-handy peanut butter<br />
and commercial sweet chili sauce we keep on board, I’m ready to turn leftover cooked<br />
chicken or beef bites into a finger food fiesta. A box of simple commercial whole grain<br />
crackers lightly spread with peanut butter, topped with cooked chicken or beef,<br />
drizzled with sweet chili sauce and enhanced with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds<br />
will bring guests to their feet with shouts of olé!<br />
Dishes of pickles, cheese chunks, nuts and chips can be added to round off any<br />
modest offering. Cold beverages offered to quench one’s thirst and your entertaining<br />
success is guaranteed. Nothing could be easier. If I had only learned this many years<br />
ago, I could now have been living aboard a much larger yacht. I’m sure I wouldn‘t be<br />
any happier, however.<br />
This weekend we are going to a party onshore and here is what we will take as an<br />
appetizer: a packet of sliced ham, spread with cream cheese and wrapped around<br />
pickles and stuffed olives. Once these rolls have chilled slightly in the icebox we will<br />
slice them into finger-size bites. They, like us, are always well received.<br />
So if the next occasion to welcome guests on board has you in a turmoil, remember<br />
“easy-peasy”, “Bob’s your uncle” or any other catch phrase that will put your mind into<br />
simplicity mode for onboard entertaining. I know you will get kudos from your guests.<br />
BILL & BOB THOMAS<br />
S<br />
MICK STEVENS