Easy, healthy, delicious; this refreshing smoothie ticks all the right boxes. Banana and coconut milk do not only complement the fresh pineapple’s sweet tangy flavour, but also ensure that you can consume a large quantity of it without feeling like your mouth is on fire.

Despite their name, pineapples have little to do with either pine trees or apples. In fact, most languages just refer to them as “ananas” from the  Tupi word  “nanas”  which means “excellent fruit.” It’s not hard to understand why. Pineapples aren’t only tasty, but they also look really cool. Have you ever picked up a pineapple and looked at it? I mean, really looked at it? As far as fruits go, they’re pretty wild. As this video  describes, cheaper methods of transportation meant that, over time, pineapples have become less exclusive.  No longer revered, the poor pineapple has been banished to the tacky recesses of our collective culinary consciousness, but there was a time when people would rent them for parties – as a conversation piece! –  or even incorporate them into buildings.  

Maybe it’s time to drag the pineapple back into the limelight and once again give it the attention it deserves. Maybe it’s time for a pineapple revival, and, if so, making this smoothie seems like a step in the right direction.

Dunmore Pineapple, Dunmore Park, Scotland.

Ingredients:

1/2 fresh pineapple, (cut up the other half too and freeze for future use)

1 banana

250 ml Alpro coconut drink or regular coconut milk

a drop of lemon juice

• Chop the pineapple and the banana in small pieces, add the coconut milk and a little bit of lemon juice and blend until smooth and foamy. If you use ripe fruit, it should be beautifully sweet all by itself.
• To serve: pour into a fancy glass and enjoy!

In my own, budget-friendly, take on aesthetic pineapple appreciation, I have ordered myself this absolutely gorgeous apron.