Fresh pineapple is great on its own. Sometimes, though, you don’t want that bright, crisp flavor, but instead want something more mellow. Grilling pineapple makes it taste richer and more complex without actually adding anything except a little sugar.
Ingredients
one pineapple
raw sugar (or granulated white sugar)
Directions
This one is really simple, so it’s mostly going to be how to cut up the pineapple.
The cutting
Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple.
Trim off the skin.
Dig out any seeds or hard bits you missed.
Slice into wedges, like a pizza. A really tall pizza.
Cut out the core. (It will be easy to see where the core ends and the fruit begins.)
Now you should have a bunch of wedges.
The cooking
Warm up your grill, and your grill topper if you have one, and lube it with a little olive pomace oil. (Or light olive oil, if you can’t find pomace.)
Lay the pineapple out … be careful, they’re slippery as heck.
Top with a little raw sugar.
Grill over high heat until the bottom just starts to brown. Then turn them over and give a sprinkle of sugar to the other side.
If you’re really lucky — or if your grill is in much better shape than mine — you’ll get them evenly brown all over at the same time. If not, take them off when the edges start to get dark brown, just before black.
Set them aside and let them cool enough to handle them.
This edge is as dark as you want to go.
Slice into bite-sized chunks.
Serve on its own …
… or as a topping for ice cream.
And that’s it.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
Subscribe to comments on this post
8 Comments
Why the sugar? I’ve always just grilled my pineapple tossed in a little oil, and now I’m curious about what the sugar adds. Mine isn’t usually so brown, so I’m wondering if you’re getting a crispiness to the outside or something.
Cara, the sugar caramelizes. You’re absolutely right that you can get by without it.
I have tried a similar approach but soaked the pineapple in coconut milk before the sugar coat. Very good.
We love grilling pineapple in the summer. We usually marinate it in rum and cinnamon. Then we add the sugar just like you’ve done. Delicious!
Oh that sounds so very good! Going to have to try this!
It would be very grandmother-like to serve this with a nice grilled ham slice.
Betsy is correct!
Oh my! Marinating in coconut milk? Rum and cinnamon? Be still my heart! I’ve got to get me a pineapple!!!