Pineapples are gorgeous in their natural skins. The real beauty is in the aroma and taste of the succulent fruit inside, as it presents itself to any kitchen knife wielding home cook who can conquer the prickly prize. There's an art to opening a pineapple. Without this precious knowledge you could end up with stinging finger pricks, giant fruit flying across a slippery counter onto the floor, or a long tedious ordeal trying to peel the skin off this elusive treat.
Oh, you could go buy cut-up pineapple. But where's the fun of that? Who ever got bragging rights for opening a plastic container? Right. So here you go: How to cut open a pineapple in five easy steps.
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1. When a pineapple is ripe, its leaves should be fresh and green, the fruit's body firm. With clean hands, lay the pineapple on its side and cut of the top, 1/2 inch or so below the leaves. Now cut 1/2 inch off the bottom.
2. Now you can stand that beast on end and slice away the tough skin, deep enough to get most of the "eyes" out.
3. From here you have a choice. Lay the pineapple back down and slice it into rings, coring the center of each slice, or ...
keep the fruit upright and slice it carefully into quarters, like the one on the right.
4. If you cut it this way, you still need to remove the tough core. Just lay each quarter on its side and slice off the hard center in one go.
5. Now you're ready to create toothpick worthy chunks.
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