Chef Juliette
Bavaroise
Bavaroise turns the ribbon stage into a drink: yolks and sugar, boiling tea and milk, and Kirsch whisked into a light crown of foam. Keep the whisk moving, and the café comes home.
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Pineapple Water
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2938, Pineapple Water, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Eau d’Ananas captures pineapple by infusion, not crushing: boiling syrup draws out its perfume, fine straining keeps the drink clear, and cold seltzer with Kirsch lets it finish feather-light.
Beverages
French
Outdoor Dining
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
5 min cook•2 hr 40 min total
YieldAbout 5½ cups (1.3 liters), 6 servings
Eau d’Ananas (pineapple water) teaches infusion à chaud (hot infusion): chopped fruit yields its perfume to boiling syrup, then seltzer carries that perfume lightly rather than burying it in pulp. The drink should be clear, pale gold, and alive with bubbles, with Kirsch arriving as a dry cherry scent at the finish. The one true thing is temperature: the syrup must be fully boiling when it reaches the finely chopped pineapple.
The formula assumed a syrup hydrometer for 20° and 9° Baumé, a woollen filtering bag, a block of service ice, and a pitcher built from 680 g of pineapple. Here the proportions are halved for six glasses; 20° syrup becomes a weighed sugar-and-water ratio, the woollen bag becomes a dampened jelly bag or paper-lined sieve, and the liqueur-glass measure becomes 45 ml. Those instruments are brigade scaffolding and can go. The boiling infusion, full two-hour rest, fine straining, twenty-minute chill with seltzer, and Kirsch added at service are the dish and must stay.
Chop, don't blend. A blender tears the fruit into pulp that no patient straining can make truly clear. Get the cut fine and pour the syrup over it at a full boil; that first meeting decides the Eau d’Ananas.
Eau d’Ananas belongs to the Parisian grand-hotel and bourgeois refreshment table rather than to a single French province, part of a repertoire of chilled fruit drinks served after dinner or outdoors. Pineapple reached these kitchens fresh when possible and preserved when necessary, which is why the classical formula accepts both without ceremony. Despite its spare name, this is not raw fruit left in water: it is a measured hot-syrup infusion, clarified by fine straining, diluted with seltzer, and completed with Kirsch.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh pineapple or canned pineapple in juice
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 340 g)
finely chopped and well drained if canned
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 200 g)
water
Quantity
1½ cups (355 ml / 355 g)
ice
Quantity
1 large block, about ½ cup displacement (120 ml / 110 g)
very cold seltzer water
Quantity
2½ to 2¾ cups (590 to 650 ml / 590 to 650 g)
Kirsch
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh pineapple or canned pineapple in juicefinely chopped and well drained if canned | 2 cups (475 ml / 340 g) |
| granulated sugar | 1 cup (240 ml / 200 g) |
| water | 1½ cups (355 ml / 355 g) |
| ice | 1 large block, about ½ cup displacement (120 ml / 110 g) |
| very cold seltzer water | 2½ to 2¾ cups (590 to 650 ml / 590 to 650 g) |
| Kirsch | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan
- •1.5-liter heatproof nonreactive bowl
- •Dampened jelly bag or fine-mesh sieve with paper coffee filters
- •1.5-liter glass pitcher
Instructions
- 1
Chop the pineapple
Cut the pineapple into pieces no larger than a pea, catching every drop of juice, and place the fruit and juice in a heatproof nonreactive bowl. Keep the cut fine and even, but do not mash or blend it. Small clean cuts expose plenty of fruit to the syrup without filling the finished drink with pulp.
- 2
Boil the syrup
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat only until the sugar dissolves, then bring the syrup to a full rolling boil. As soon as the whole surface boils, take it straight to the pineapple; prolonged boiling evaporates water and makes the syrup heavier than the formula intends.
The formula’s 20° means Baumé, a density reading rather than a temperature. The measured sugar-and-water ratio gives the proper strength without requiring a syrup hydrometer. - 3
Infuse for two hours
Pour the boiling syrup evenly over the chopped pineapple, making certain every piece is wetted. Stir once, cover the bowl, and leave it at room temperature for two hours while it cools and infuses. Keep the full time. This quiet extraction is the dish, and cutting it short gives sweetness without enough pineapple perfume.
- 4
Strain until clear
Set a dampened jelly bag over a clean bowl, or line a fine-mesh sieve with a rinsed paper coffee filter. Pour in the pineapple mixture and let it drain by gravity for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not squeeze the fruit; pressure forces pulp through and clouds the drink. If it has already been pressed, ça se rattrape: let the liquid settle for ten minutes, then pass it through a fresh damp filter without disturbing the sediment.
Save the strained pineapple for spooning over plain yogurt or ice cream. Its best perfume has gone into the drink, but the fruit is still pleasant. - 5
Dilute and chill
Place the large block of ice in a 1.5-liter pitcher and pour in the strained infusion. Add 2½ cups of the cold seltzer, then enough of the remainder to bring the contents to about 5¼ cups (1.24 liters), usually another 2 to 4 tablespoons. This is the home equivalent of reducing the syrup to 9° Baumé: the drink remains distinctly sweet and fragrant but no longer feels syrupy. Stir once, cover, and keep cold for twenty minutes.
- 6
Finish with Kirsch
Immediately before serving, add the Kirsch and turn the liquid over once with a long spoon. Do not beat out the bubbles. If the seltzer has lost some life during holding, add a final small splash from a freshly opened bottle. Pour into chilled tumblers with no garnish to interrupt the clear pineapple perfume. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose a pineapple that smells fragrant at its base and gives only slightly under a thumb. If fresh fruit is poor, pineapple canned in juice is the honest preserved choice; avoid heavy syrup, which changes the measured sweetness of the drink.
- •Kirsch means dry cherry eau-de-vie, not a sweet cherry liqueur. It should sharpen the pineapple’s perfume without turning the drink red or adding another layer of sugar.
- •Cold, forcefully carbonated seltzer matters. Chill the bottle thoroughly and open it only when the infusion is strained, because warm or tired seltzer leaves the drink sweet and flat.
- •The strained infusion keeps for two days in the refrigerator. Once seltzer and Kirsch are added, serve within two hours while the bubbles still carry the aroma.
Advance Preparation
- •Infuse and strain the pineapple up to one day ahead, then cover and refrigerate the clear base. Add the ice, seltzer, and Kirsch according to the original sequence shortly before serving.
- •For outdoor dining, carry the chilled infusion in one sealed bottle and keep the seltzer and Kirsch separate. Combine them twenty minutes before the meal so the drink reaches the table cold and lively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 230g)
Calories
165 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
5 mg
Total Carbohydrates
38 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
37 g
Protein
0 g
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