Fibonacci Spirals

Pineapple is a symbol of hospitality, for some and not for all, I am sure.... I am in a bad mood today because someone is mad at me... so I am taking it out on my pineapple... I am going to peel it!

This is my third pineapple... because I was always intrigued to know if I am capable of peeling a pineapple the "right" way, that is not to waste any good edible flesh. The end result is that you end up with a beautiful spiral-decorated fruit to show.

My first pineapple made it to my blog, but it rotted away on my counter because I could not figure out how to peel it the "right" way and I couldn't tell that it was too ripe and it couldn't wait forever for my taking action. My second pineapple was peeled... alas, not the "right" way, and shamefully for me, not by me, but by a friend. We ate it, but I was unhappy! This is my third one, and I did my homework so this time I am ready... and today is the day.

First, do you know how to tell if a pineapple is ripe? See? Not so obvious! That's when you can easily pull off the spiny leaves off the top. So mine is ripe and ready to go... The leaves came off easily without any resistance. How do you like that! Instructions on how to peel a pineapple are everywhere you look, but many just cut it the "wrong" way. After some doing, I found a video showing an expert that did it so effortlessly the "right" way... in Thailand of all places. The woman "professor" did a great job demonstrating how to peel her pineapple that really inspired me to try for myself... So I bought a brand new 8-inch "never need sharpening" (I'd like to test that too) knife for this special task. Now, this is what you do: First you take away the top leaves. No, do not cut it off... just twist the entire bunch of leaves off. That worked perfectly well for me. But before proceeding, do you know that while the pineapple was ripening in your kitchen, all the sugar in it migrated by gravity to the bottom part? So the trick I learned is that after twisting off the leaves, you turn it upside down and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour for the sugar to migrate back evenly. Done! Not sure why that is so clever! If you want more sugar, just eat the bottom part and leave the top for your guest (or for the person who is mad at me today!)

So, after a lot of labor, this is my pineapple ready to be cored. Not too pretty, but that's mine! Now, how best to core this? Let's save it for the next blog. But there is a twist... some pineapple cores are soft and are edible and if you can tell, you do not need to core it.

If you are interested to learn how to do this from the master, a lesson is here. My pineapple is not as pretty as the one the master was working on in the video... but in all fairness, mine does not have a perfect spiral pattern as hers so I am happy with the way mine looks. Yummy! Let's eat it!

Fibonacci Cuts

Remember my recent Cycad blog? Someone asked me an innocent question: is this related to the pineapple? I'm glad that was asked... because I did not know the answer so I had to do some homework for myself. In another seemingly unrelated vein, take a look at today's photo. My backyard got a... pineapple! Of course, that is just a joke on you, because this plant is not a cycad, nor that this pineapple sprouted out of it. This pineapple came from Publix supermarket. I bought it, thinking first that it looks and smells fantastic; and second that I would know what to do with it. Not even close! I have no idea how to cut this guy open, and it looks so forbidden, I am pretty sure I need help from someone more capable. A friend gave me a piece of advice: You'll need a sharp knife... a very sharp knife. But that is not my problem! My problem is how does one proceed. Then it dawned upon me that I had dealt with something similar before. Look here! Fibonacci!

This is the link that gives some sort of answer to the question above: Yes and No. Pineapple is not related to cycad, but both share the same passion: they love Fibonacci. What's that, you ask? Let's first talk about cycad. They reproduce by making seed cones that look pretty much like pineapples. These cones have spiral patterns. In some slender cones, one may notice 3 spirals veering to the left and 5 spirals moving oppositely, or vice versa. In larger ones, 5 and 8 spirals can be noticed, and some still larger cones may display 8 and 13 spirals: each set moving opposite to the other. Giant cones may have as many as 21 spirals. These numbers (3, 5, 8, 13 & 21) form part of a numerical sequence known as Fibonacci numbers which came from the work of a 13th century Italian mathematician, Leonardo da Pisa. The sequence begins with these terms: 1, 1,2,3,5,8, 13,21,34,.. and so on. Except the first two numbers, any term in the sequence is obtained by adding the two preceding numbers. The sequence is thus non-ending. We call it an infinite series.

Pineapple scales are also Fibonacci-patterned into spirals and because they are roughly hexagonal in shape, three distinct sets of spirals may be observed. One set of 5 parallel spirals ascends at a shallow angle to the right, a second set of 8 parallel spirals ascends more steeply to the left and possibly a third set of 13 parallel spirals ascends very steeply to the right. To have 13 spirals, you would have to get a very large pineapple. Mine has either 5 or 8. So I need to know if I should cut this following the 5 or the 8 spirals. See? Not so trivial! I probably will make a plant out of this baby instead of trying to perform surgery on it with a ceramic knife with which I am sure I will cut my fingers to pieces.

Pineapple

This is the marker of the main entrance of South Miami hospital/Baptist Health on SW 62nd avenue close to US-1. Baptist Health's logo is the pineapple. Here is its history...

The pineapple became a symbol of hospitality in Europe during the Italian Renaissance period. American inn-keepers later adopted the European custom of putting pineapples on their doors, and visitors to these inns found themselves in friendly and comfortable surroundings.

When Arthur Vining Davis donated the land and funds to build Baptist Hospital, the magnate specified that a pineapple fountain greet guests at the front door. Guests would thus know that service here would be warm and friendly, such as in a good hotel. This pineapple fountain still exists today which is at the Baptist hospital on Kendall Drive.

Upon completion of their orientation program, all new Baptist Health employees receive a pineapple pin to attach to their hospital identification badge as a symbol of commitment to hospitality.