I’ve only had Pinha here once in Brazil, but it was a memorable experience, and I like the taste, so I bought myself one today. If you ever stumble across a pinha in your local grocery store, you now know what to do with it!
It’s got the look of an artichoke, but it’s soft and plushy like … like nothing else really.
Kinda looks like a grenade, right? A little green grenade.
From here, you either squeeze the beejeezus out of it, or you can cut it. For the purposes of this demonstration, I cut it so you can see inside.
It’s full of seeds, about 50 on average. But you see all that white? That’s what you want, it’s the creamy custard-like meat of the fruit. So what now?
From here, you scoop out some of the seeds with a spoon…
Put it in your mouth and suck the meat from the seeds,
Now, I haven’t always been a pro at pinha. When I first got it, my host mother and her maid gave me a spoonful, and because of the shock of everything in my mouth, I gave a look of sheer panic. They then shouted, “Did you swallow the seeds!? Don’t swallow the seeds!”
But pinha is fun. And slighty sweet, slightly strange, sorta tastes like…. yeah, you’ll have to try it yourself. It’s a great afternoon snack.
So Eat. Spit. Be Happy!
Tchau!
~`*Tina
