Thai name:
Sapparot
Scientific
name: Ananas comosus Merr.
Season: April
to June and December to January
The pineapple
is native of Central America (Christopher Colombus discovered
it along with the West Indies) and it has been grown in Thailand
for several centuries, especially in the sandy soil along
the sea coasts. Indeed, so widespread has cultivation been in
recent years that today the kingdom ranks as the world's leading
exporter of canned pineapple.
Besides being
eaten fresh or drunk as juice, the chopped fruit is often an ingredient
of cooked dishes such as a spicy soup called kaeng khua sapparot
and phat sapparot, which is fried pineapple with prawns,
chillies, and onions. The main fruiting seasons for Thailand are
April to June and December to January but some varieties are on
the market year-round.
