Pineapple Sherbet & Pineapple Topping from Samoa (updated)

Yea! We're back in the South Pacific. Western Samoa to be exact. Don't wanna go over to American Samoa since they don't have good, traditional, Polynesian type food over there. Besides, those two islands are sooooooo tiny compared to the Savai'i and Upolu islands of Western Samoa.

These two recipes go together very well. Why, you ask? Cus you need one pineapple for both recipes and the goodies from each are served in each hollowed out pineapple half. It really does make sense to do make these together.

Credit for these two is given to Gwen Skinner from one of her wonderful books The Cuisine of the South Pacific. The book is almost 30 years old and was researched in the 70's as she sailed around Oceania.

I've used several cooking techniques and tips from her book (and many other books from other authors) for many of my own recipes --and modified some that I found in it-- but these two are ones that I don't mess with. For two reasons: Not only are they PERFECT, but I always make them during the holidays. If you've looked at any of my holiday menus (or this one too) --or perhaps this one-- you'll know that I'm pretty darned busy so if I don't have to experiment with something new, all the better.

Oops! I've got to go shred some lamb I just roasted up this morning for tomorrow night's souvlaki. Stay here, I'll be right back.

I'm back! Didja y'all miss me? And I even remembered to wash my hands before and after shredding the lamb.

Ok, pineapple sherbet and pineapple topping.



What you need for the pineapple topping:

1 pineapple
1/2 CUP (oops, forgot the unit first post) unsweetened pineapple juice
1 beaten egg yolk
1 cup sugar
2 tsp butter
2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch is the same thing, just depends what country you are in)
3 tbsp H2O --this would be water.


What you do for the pineapple topping:

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise. Cut out the fruit from both halves of the shell (I use a very thin, curved, fish filleting knife) so that you've left about 1/4 inch of pineapple fruit in the shell --this is so none of the goodies leak out. Mince the fruit finely --I use a cleaver for this, goes right through any tough parts of the fruit-- and try to keep as much of the juice as possible.

Toss the minced fruit with it's juice, 1/2 cup pineapple juice also, the egg yolk, sugar and butter into a saucepan and boil it up. Mix the cornflour & water, whisk it into the saucepan and keep on low heat till the whole mess thickens a bit --should take less than a minute.

Let it cool to room temp and then pour/scrape/spoon it into one of the pineapple halves. Refridgerate overnight. Then use it. There are a great many uses for it as it goes quite well with many things --including cornchips! Ice cream topping... Mmmmmmmm!

Next up, the pineapple sherbet


What you need for the pineapple sherbet:

Hollowed out pineapple half from above recipe
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 cup crushed pineapple (just use the canned stuff)
2 egg whites --beaten till stiff


What you do for the pineapple sherbet:

Mix the condensed milk and the butter very thoroughly. Then add everything EXCEPT the egg whites. Stir it very well. Chill well for a few hours and then fold the beaten egg whites into the chilled mixture.

Put it into the freezer till it's about half frozen, then scrape the mix into a large bowl. Beat it with a large spoon till it's smoothed out but not melted. Then pour the mix into the hollowed out pineapple half and put it into the freezer.

The next day, serve it up!