PINEAPPLE SKIN TEPACHE

When you chop a pineapple to eat, there is always a lot left over – the skin and the core. I was delighted to find this recipe in one of my books, which uses up the leftovers and creates a delicious pineapple drink. As an added bonus, it is also fermented, which means the drink is full of great gut-friendly probiotics. INGREDIENTS

1 pineapple’s worth of peel,

top, tail and core

250g raw sugar

3 litres water

1 stick cinnamon

1 Wash the pineapple thoroughly before peeling.

2 Put the peel, top, tail and core into a large ceramic or glass jar (which you have sterilised by either putting through the dishwasher or putting in an oven for 10 minutes on 100oC).

3 Add the sugar and 3 litres of water.

4 Weight down the skins so that they stay beneath the liquid. Use a clean bowl which fits inside the jar. You may have to put a weight into the bowl. Add the cinnamon.

5 Cover with a tea towel and leave to ferment for three days. The mixture should become cloudy and may become bubbly (although mine didn’t). If there is a white mould on the surface, just remove with a clean spoon – it is harmless.

6 Drain the pineapple pieces and cinnamon off and bottle the liquid. It is delicious served on ice. Bottle the liquid and store in the fridge for a month.