Pineapple on Pizza

Lately, there has been a lot of posts on Facebook (and likely other places) about whether pineapple belongs on pizza. Some people really like it that combination and others, including myself, do not.  I had a Hawaiian pizza once and all I can remember was how disappointed I was. Pizza evokes a certain flavour memory that ham and pineapple just can't measure up to. I won't ever order one again. I have nothing against ham and pineapple. They go together. They just don't belong together on pizza dough. 

During all the arguments discussions about pineapple on pizza, someone tried to claim that fruit just doesn't belong on pizza. Well, hey, if you are building me a dessert pizza with strawberries and chocolate, I'll take that in a heartbeat! But when the subject of fruit on pizza came up, some wise person pointed out that tomatoes are also fruit.

One of my friends had, of course, heard that before, but suddenly wondered just why tomatoes are considered fruit and not vegetables since that's how most of us treat them. I said I thought it was because it had seeds inside. I knew there was another reason too, but hey, I've been out of school for 55 years so it wasn't coming to me.  She pointed out that cucumbers have seeds on the inside too. Well, I went home and asked Google if cucumbers were fruit, and sure enough, they are. So are peppers, eggplant and zucchini. Oh, now that last one excites me as I'll be able to use it against my fruit loving, vegetable avoiding husband, and just as the zucchini crop is starting to come on strong too.

The other reason these things are all fruit is that they form from the blossom, just like apples and peaches and cherries and berries, etc. Vegetables don't do that.

Fruits are the mature ovary of a plant and contain seeds to grow the next generation. Vegetables, on the other hand, are usually grouped according to the part of the plant that is eaten such as leaves (lettuce), stem (celery), roots (carrot), tubers (potato), bulbs (onion) and flowers (broccoli).  While they both are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants fruit contains more sugar, so vegetables are considered to be better for your health.  

So, the next time you have a slice of pizza, remember the tomato or pizza sauce spread over the dough is not a vegetable serving. In fact, commercial tomato sauce has so much sugar in it that not only is it not a vegetable, but it should be classified as a dessert. Hmmmm.....let's skip the tomato sauce and get back to the idea of strawberries and chocolate chips. You might even try adding pineapple to that and I won't complain.

The Fruit That Bites Back

Lately, I have been buying more fruit. We almost always have apples, bananas and grapes in the house, unless we run out of something before the next shopping trip. I usually have a couple of oranges and lemons here too.  Lately, I've added whatever others were on sale in a bid to keep myself out of things like cookies and potato chips when I get the mid-day munchies.

Last week it was kiwi and strawberries. This week the pineapples were on sale for $1.98. I took a good look at them and found a big one with a fresh top that looked a bit riper than the others. I took it home, put it in a paper bag with a couple of apples and left it on the counter for a day and a  half. When I looked again it had ripened right up. The ethylene gas in apples does that to a lot of things but this was the first time I'd tried it on a pineapple.

I never used to like pineapple. Then I went to Hawaii where it was part of every morning's breakfast buffet. Oh my goodness, people, you have never tasted real pineapple until you've had one that was actually ripe when it was picked! They are so sweet and delicious! The ones we get here are picked green and most of the time we don't give them a chance to ripen up. Well, my method did wonders for the one I brought home as it was definitely sweet and juicy, and I really enjoyed it. That is until I was reminded of another reason I'm not fond of pineapple.

My tongue got sore. I had forgotten that feeling. Pineapple always makes my tongue sore. But hey, today we all have the internet so I decided to type in the question of why that happens. Seems I'm not the only one that's asked that question and the answer is really easy to find. Not only does pineapple contain citric acid (like lemons), it contains an enzyme called bromelain. This enzyme digests protein. In fact, it does that so well it is often used to tenderize meat.

Pineapples are the only food that contain bromelain. The protein it finds when I eat pineapple is the tender tissue inside my mouth. It actually starts digesting me!  My lips, tongue and cheeks can get sore. It seems it can get so bad in some people (who likely eat more pineapple in one sitting than I ever would) that their mouth actually starts to bleed.  In most cases, though the effects wear off in just a few hours.

The best way to enjoy your pineapple and avoid such a problem is to cut the core out. Most of the bromelain is concentrated there.  Hawaiians say that you can lessen the problem by soaking the whole thing in brine before cutting it up or just sprinkling salt on the cut pineapple. I've never tried that but I do put salt on other things people find strange (apples, watermelon and cheese) so I may just try that. Another trick is to eat the pineapple with yogurt or ice cream so the bromelain has another protein to digest instead of your sensitive tissue. 

One good thing I've learned from all this research though is that the bromelain may act as an anti-inflammatory.  With the weather swings we have been having lately, that could come in handy.