Smack your lips over the world’s best pineapple

You’ll be hard pressed to find these extra-sweet gems outside of Hawaii. And even on the Big Island, they’re farmed not by a corporation, but only by a small but growing number of local farmers who grow them in addition to other crops like coffee, mangoes, and bananas and sell them at farmers’ markets. Depending on which farmer you’re talking to at which market, the low-acid, white-fleshed pineapples may be called Kona Sugarloaf, Big Island White, or simply White.  If you’re lucky, they’ll offer you a sample before buying, so you can taste for yourself how the whites retain all the floral aroma and taste of their yellow brethren but without the sharp tartness. (This also means you can devour vast quantities without mouth sores or a stomachache!) We’ve found them at the Hilo Farmers Market, the main Kona market (where tourists roam and prices tend to be higher), and the tiny, hyper-local South Kona Greenmarket in Captain Cook. They never last long, but remain a favorite only-in-Hawaii treat.