I absolutely love dried fruit, but when it comes to dried pineapple, I'm completely smitten.
Don't get me wrong, pineapple is a fantastic fruit in any form – even canned in syrup, but fresh is always best. Fresh pineapple is always a recommended fruit, even in our own garden.
But fresh pineapple in Israel is also quite expensive, especially organic pineapple. In a perfect world, pineapple shouldn't cost much more than an apple. Unfortunately, that's not the case. On the other hand, as you've probably noticed, pineapple also comes in many processed forms, one of which is dried. And if you ask me, it's the Rolls-Royce of dried fruits.
This is also a great opportunity to debunk some myths about processed fruits and vegetables. Because drying fruits and vegetables is one of the oldest food processing methods in the world.
These days, people are increasingly drawn to whole, unprocessed foods. The widespread belief is that processed foods are less nutritious and therefore less healthy.
While this assumption is often correct, there are many foods that have undergone "processing" and still retain most of their nutritional value. Moreover, without processed food, human civilization would not exist.
The first cities were built as a result of the development of trade. Trade only emerged when agriculture developed to the point where farmers could grow enough food to have surpluses after meeting their own needs.
These surpluses were sold, and thus an "economy" was created. The problem is that fresh fruits and vegetables tend to spoil quickly, and we're talking about a world without electricity or refrigeration infrastructure.
Therefore, people sought ways to extend the life of produce, and that's exactly what's called "food processing." When it comes to fruits, the simplest processing method is drying.
This method, which probably began not far from us, in Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BCE, has remained virtually unchanged to this day. Fruits are allowed to dry in the sun in a controlled manner.
Fruits contain approximately ninety percent water. Remove that water, and what remains is the essence of the fruit in a compact and durable state. Most of the essential nutrients are preserved during the drying process, and unlike other food processing methods, the process can be carried out without using substances and processes that leave toxic residue in the food.
For fruits like dates, figs and grapes (raisins), this happened very quickly and became part of the DNA of Mediterranean cuisine. But what worked in the Mediterranean tradition was also adopted in other places for other fruits, including tropical fruits like papaya and pineapple.
As is well known, the pineapple originated in South America. It's possible that the indigenous people of South America used to dry pineapple. It's certainly plausible, but I haven't found evidence of it. To the best of my knowledge, the dried pineapple we know today came into existence only after the pineapple itself migrated from South America to Southeast Asia.
As we know, Columbus "discovered" America in 1492. A few decades later, when the entire southern continent was under the control of the kings of Spain and Portugal, vegetables and fruits from South America began to spread throughout the Old World, and the pineapple, as a tropical fruit, migrated to Spanish colonies in Asia such as the Philippines.
The Asians fell in love with the fruit, which acclimatized well, and they were the ones who first created the dried pineapple that became popular in Western countries during the 20th century. It's not hard to understand why, you just have to taste it.
It has a whole range of flavors and is incredibly sweet. No, there's no sugar added. That's the beauty of dried fruit in general and dried pineapple in particular – what remains is the essence of the fruit after the water is removed, and that essence is sweet.
So don't overdo it, but enjoy it and feel free to add it into cold dishes or even add flavor and richness to a winter stew. Because winter is just around the corner, and it's great to have dried pineapple (sun-dried organic pineapple) around.
