Pine-lime slice
Eating a ripe, chilled pineapple is a summer pleasantry in its own right. The sugar and acidity is in aggressive harmony, playing directly off each other.
A simple way to light up the complexity of sugar is to caramelise it. The flavour is more interesting and, with the addition of smoke, it becomes almost savoury. During these hot months of cooking outdoors over solid fuel, I often incorporate ripe fruit to utilise the heat from the fire while it’s being used for other items. A pineapple spinning over smoky coals makes me look forward to the next course, the final touch to a meal. Another potential is to incorporate this pineapple with whatever it is you are cooking over the coals. Chop it into a salsa to finish some grilled fish or serve it as a side dish. My favourite, however, is to serve it as a composed dessert.
This dish combines the classic flavours of a pina colada but then uses matcha tea to really pick up the savoury element. The herbaceous tea also brings tannin, making it more balanced and more pleasant to digest at the end of a meal. I love to use matcha tea powder in savoury applications too – alongside the flavours it is more commonly associated with, such as seaweed and sesame, or with grilled meats that have been brushed with sweet glazes.
Instead of whipping the coconut cream, you could add some gelatine to the canned product and treat it as a set panna cotta. Or you could go to the trouble of making the coconut cream yourself using mature coconuts and a whole lot of hard work. Generally a handmade coconut cream will set itself due to the higher levels of fat that can be extracted – a result that is unparalleled. However, simple adding a small amount of gelatine and then whipping the cream prior to setting produces a more stable base.•