I was standing in my kitchen one afternoon, cutting up a fresh pineapple for my children, when my husband's grandmother walked in and immediately stopped me.
“Wait,” she said. “You aren't soaking those first?”
I looked at her, confused.
“Soaking them in what?”
“Salt water,” she replied.
I'd never heard of it before. I'd always assumed that cutting a pineapple, removing the tough skin and core, and slicing the fruit into bite-sized pieces was all there was to it.
She laughed and shook her head.
“Young people don't know the old kitchen tricks anymore.”
That made me curious.
Why would anyone put sweet pineapple into salty water?
Was it simply an old-fashioned habit, or was there actually a reason behind it?
As it turns out, there is a practical explanation for the tradition. Soaking fresh pineapple briefly in lightly salted water can change the eating experience in several ways, although some of the claims surrounding the trick are exaggerated.
Here's what is really happening.
