Pineapple island

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How do pineapples grow? On a tree, or? Hmmm, no, not really. Being in French Polynesia we had heard about the fantastic pineapples from Moorea right from the start. The island is Polynesia's main producer of the fruit. When we finally arrived on this last stop of our trip we started with a delicious freshly pressed pineapple juice on the terras of our hotel in Cook's Bay. Looking at the slope of the opposite mountainside we cloud then already see them: pineapple plantations.

But it took us one more day to actually get there. With our car we drove up the bumpy road and there they were: pineapples wherever you looked. They actually grow on the ground. Like flowers they stick out from the plant at about half a metre and are protected by thorny leaves.

On Moorea the plantations are mainly in our bay because they like rain and the mountains make the clouds stop at this certain point to rain off. And then of course they like it sunny and warm. To make a totally unscientific comparison Moorea felt like the warmest island we have been to.

The local pineapples are quite different from the ones you buy in our supermarkets. Do you also use to look at them wondering which one is the ripest? Actually none of them is even near ready. At their best they are yellow all over. The middle part that usually is so woody? All sweet and yummy when really ripe. Yea. And what do you do with all those pineapples then? Some possibilities that we found appealing: Piña Colada, pineapple wine, chicken with pineapple sauce, pineapple pizza, warm pineapple cake with pineapple ice cream... or just plain and delicious as it is.

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