Baked pineapple with Moroccan spices

This recipe was inspired by Luigi Pomata, a great Sardinian chef, a native of the island of San Pietro, which is situated at the south-west bottom of Sardinia. This island has a very interesting history and tells a lot about the richness of the cultural fusion of Mediterranean islands. The island has been known since ancient times. The Phoenicians called it Enosim or Inosim, while for the Greek it was Hieracon Nesos and for the Romans Accipitrum Insula (Sparrowhawk Island). The latter derived from the presence of the small Eleonora's Falcon, which is still present on the island. San Pietro is home today to remains from the Phoenician, Roman and Sardinian civilizations.

According to a legend, the island is so named because St. Peter visited the island in 46 AD.

In the 18th century the uninhabited San Pietro was colonized by Ligurian origin and speaking people coming from the Republic of Genoa' colony of Tabarka, a small island off the coast of Tunisia, which was taken over by the Bey of Tunisia. Today most of the population has retained a variant of Genoese dialect, called Tabarchino.

This recipe mixed the Spanish heritage, the first fruit brought over from the West Indies by Columbus, and the Maghreb heritage, represented by the spices which where a central item of the commerce in the Mediterranean sea. A dessert extremely easy to make, but with a richness of aroma and fragrances which are like an echo of Sahara winds.

Ingredients:

1 pineapple

Cane sugar 60 g

Bio butter  100 g

Water 4 cl

Acquavite  4 cl

4 Cinnamon sticks

5 Star anis

2 Vanilla beans

Black, green and red pepper whole  5-8 gr

Ground Cayenne chilly pepper 5 gr

Cloves 5-8 gr

Curry 5 gr

Method:

1)In a deep baking tray, put 60 g of butter, water and all the spices. Put it in a preheated oven (190 degrees).

2)In the meantime clean up the pineapple, removing the skin and the core.

3)When the ingredients in the tray melt, creating a sort of creamy sauce, add the pineapple and bake for 10 min.

4) Take the pineapple out, put it in a pan with the acquavite and flame it until the spirit has evaporated

5) Place the pineapple back in the tray and bake for 15/20 min

6) Remove the pineapple and cut it in slices evenly.

7) Add the rest of the butter to the sauce in a pan, make it reduce and then pour it on the pineapple, then decorate with star anis and cinnamon sticks

8) Serve immediately. You can accompany it with lemon or peppermint sorbet

Cesky