Description
The Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO is a pineapple from the Ananas comosus (L) Merril plant of the Bromeliaceae family of the smooth leaved Cayenne variety.
Production Area
Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO is cultivated on the island of S. Miguel, in the Archipelago of the Azores.
Production Method
this plant is usually cultivated in green houses called estufas in an artificial soil composed of organic material. Throughout all the phases of cultivation camas quentes are used, kinds of raised beds with a special system of ventilation and irrigation which allows the plant to absorb the right amount of humidity and water. The camas are made with compost from the surrounding natural vegetation of the island together with wood and sawdust. Periodically, when the plants are fully grown, the greenhouses are smoked by burning banana leaves to stimulate the plants into blossom.
Appearance and Flavour
Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO is cylindrical in shape, tapering at one end with an orange skin. The flesh is a transparent yellow with a typical sweet and sour taste and a very pleasant aroma. Each fruit weighs between 900 gr and 1.5 kg.
History
These Portuguese islands have often been used as a laboratory for the introduction and expansion of new types of cultivation. This is why, when the Portuguese discovered the pineapple from Brazil, they began cultivating them in the Azores, as well as on the island of S. Elena and on the West African coast. The origins of Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO date back to when the cultivation of this fruit was introduced to S. Miguel between 1840 and 1850 and, in just 100 years, it became the most traded fruit in Europe.
Gastronomy
When Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO is ripe it can be stored for up to six days in a fridge, even if this is not ideal. If it is still unripe it should be stored at room temperature for approximately two weeks. Apart from being eaten fresh as a dessert, especially at Christmas time, Ananás dos Açores
Marketing
This fruit is sold as Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO. It is sold whole or in prepacked slices, in wooden, cardboard or expanded polystyrene packaging.
Distinctive Features
Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO was an object of great curiosity in the past. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was considered both the king of all fruits and the fruit of kings and cultivated experimentally as an ornamental garden plant. Today the green houses are to be found in a temperate maritime climate with minor variations in temperature throughout the year, at 77% humidity and in a soil rich in organic material and potassium. All these factors go together to make Ananás dos Açores - São Miguel PDO a unique fruit of its kind.
