Another fruit that produces fabric is pineapple. Well not from the juicy fruit part, but from the leaves.

Pineapple fabric is an eco-friendly and sustainable because the plants are a renewable and natural resource.

100 % pineapple (leaf) fiber is lightweight and stiff. Some describe it as similar to linen but softer than hemp. This fabric is called piña, it’s Spanish for pineapple.

Main producer of pina comes from The Philippines. For Filipinos, piña clothing is usually reserve for wedding attire such as “Barong Tagalog” shirt for men. The colors are naturally white or cream.

Anne Harte gave a neat description of how families process pina fabric with the Textile Society of Hong Kong newsletter.

Ms. Harte describes the extraction process as being done by hand.  The material is scraped from the pineapple leaf by using a broken plate or coconut shell.

These are usually done by families who get their pineapple leaf from the island or imported from Hawaii.

The number of pina weavers are limited so these fibers are expensive. So they usually blend the pineapple fiber with cotton or silk.

The resulting fabric is very soft and lustrous. I have yet to see any pina fabric for sale locally. I’m sure it would make the perfect summer outfit.

In the meantime, when I do cut up that pineapple, I’ll be sure of think of it’s contribution to pina fabric.

Photo from Wikipedia.  Pineapple leaf being scraped by hand  with a broken ceramic plate.

Mother’s day is this Sunday.  So happy mother’s day to all the mom’s out there.

On mother’s day I am thinking of pineapple.  Since pineapples always remind me of my mother.

So recently I bought two pineapples.  One to bring to mom.  And one I decided to try carving myself.  It would be the first pineapple I’ve ever carved.  I tried to remember how my mom would carve it since this way it wouldn’t be so wasteful.  The usual way they cut pineapples (that I’ve seen on cooking shows) is to remove a lot of the flesh by cutting deep into the fruit.  This method is just to wasteful to me.

I set out to find the perfect serrated knife and went ahead and cut out the tough skin all around.  Afterward I took a smaller and sharper knife to remove the eyes.  You do this by making diagonal cuts across the flesh.  Then remove the eyes by lifting it out a section just below the flesh.  The whole cutting and carving took a while, but it was very relaxing (yet sticky.)  So now I really appreciate all the pineapple carving my mom did for us all these years.  Thanks mom!

The pineapple I had was very ripe that even the core wasn’t too tough.  I decided to cut them into little pieces and chewed on them.  Then discarded the tough fibers left over.

Cut pineapples are good for a couple of days.  So eat them as soon as you can!  Pineapples can be used in cooking as well.  Add them to yogurt, salads, pizza toppings, or even roasted on a stick like Kebabs.

Read the rest of this entry »