I had a crazy craving for pineapple yesterday, so I went on a hunt and found the sweet Victoria from South Africa, the big green andwatery pineapple produced in  Costa Rica, coming from Miami, Florida????…. and lastly the heavy, bland one from the Ivory coast. First painting them(and in the meantime eating some), I afterwards made a carpaccio from the small , sweet Victoria, which has a beautiful dark yellow colour and an intense flavour.

…Pineapple carpaccio with saffron syrup and pine nuts…

1. Take a pineapple of your choice(I prefer the small dark yellow Victoria), peel and cut into thin slices.
2. Arrange on dessert plates.
3. In the meantime, bring a 1/2 cup of water to the boil, add 1/4 cup of sugar, a pinch of saffron threads, juice of half a lemon and zest of a lemon. (Be careful fro too much saffron, it is very powerful. Two to three strings on 1/2 cup water is plenty) Reduce until syrupy, about 15 minutes. If you want a thicker syrup, simmer for longer.
4. Leave aside to cool down.
5. Dry roast a handful of pine nuts in a pan, leave to cool.
6. Spoon some juice over the pineapple slices, decorate with some pineapple leaves and sprinkle with the roasted pine nuts.

One Victoria pineapple serves 2 people

…Gigi…