New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-19
THE PINEAPPLE.
IT'S VALUE TO THE HOUSEWIFE AT THIS
SEASON

Tho birdseye or strawberry pineapple is in
market II is an acld but excellent fruit for all cult
nary purposes except for preserving. The cutiva-
ton OF the pineapple In hothouses has never been
carried In this country TO the same extent II has
In England. There, since early in the eighteenth
century, the dollhouse fruit has become regular
article OF the market though seldom sold for less
than Il apiece English gardeners have even I'M
proved the fruit and produced varieties. like the
Queen Annes and Rpleys. which In their turn have
been sent back to the tropics and raised there In
open-air gardens
Wise ones say the perfection OF the hothouse pine
Is due to the fact that 1t Is ripened on tn, plant
and Is never picked until 1t Is thoroughly matured
and luciously ripe The pneapples brought from the
West Indies are necessarily picked green and al
lowed to ripen during their passage. Some fruits
bear this treatment the pear of our temperate zone
ia nsipd II Il Is allowed 10 rlpen on the tree. but
acquires sweetness and flavor II picked green and
rpened In the dark recosses OF properly aired frut
room The banana reaches stage OF ncipient de-
cay before It becomes thoroughly mellow II left on
the tree In the tropics It Is generally picked green
and ripened Ike the pear. In the dark
Those persons who have lived In the tropics de-
clare that tho inand-grown pneapples are far
sweeter than those picked near the coast when are
the only ones sent to the Northern market. one OF
the greatest obstacles In the way OF the greenhouse
cultivation of the pineapple is that II is an epphyte
botanicay related to the sweet pineapple Is the
Tlllandsia or the long black "moss." which Is no
moss at ALL but swaying air plant that clothes all
the Southern forests far north as the Dismal
Swamp OF Virginia with mysterious VEIL When
its weird exceptional habits and growth are taken
into account. the success OF the English hothouse
growers Of the pineapple becomes the more astonsh
ing II must be acknowledged that these arthcally
grown pineapples are the only ones that RUM the
nro,,sn ~ sweetness contained In the fragrance of
the fruit.
In the latter part OF May pineapples Of the same
variety "A those raised In English hothouses arrive
,ron Havana gardens They the best pines that
como IN the city, but hardly equal to those grown
IN the hothouses. Whether this failure Is due to
re,,ect in Cuban culture or 10 the salt air OF the
,sIond II IS impossible to say. The brdseye pine
annie POSSESSES all the fragrance OF the sweetest
rru,t and the beautiful red hue of the strawberry,
hut the flavor is acid and a disappointment when
served fresh.
II is an excellent fruit however, to cook. and
makes a most delicious boiled pudding when COM
nounded with a dainty batter worthy of the deli
racv OF the fruit It takes some refinement Of
metz Of natn chou made With milk Put in porce-
ian-ined saucepan half-plnt cup OF milk with two
and three-auarers cups OF well-sifted pastry -four
Stir the milk to melt the butter; while heats. and
the S a n1i Il f"5 the pam and
not s the 1os of It sss a a% as
this two tablespoonfuls OF and add half OF a
h,if-nnt cup OF milk. When the paste Is smooth
add finally the whites OF three eggs beaten to a
stifr froth The pineapple should be ready peeled
cui IN fine bits and boiled Up in its Juice for about
Eve minutes Canned pineapple can be used for this
purpose in winter. or when fresh fruit cannot be
bad Rutter well a two-quart pudding mould. strew
r. thicky with sugar and shake out any loose sugar
pour in about an inch of the paste on the bottom
until the mould Is half-full 1t will require small
strawbcrry pine for this pudding. AS the
nf Rolling water cover the pot. Boil the pudding
steadily an hour and a half and at the end OF this
without the cover in order to brown II little. 1t