If you love pineapples then you'll definitely love the pineapples of Nagaland. And if you don’t, you might after you try one of them. Other than its famous pork in bamboo shoot, axuni (fermented soya beans) and insanely hot Naga chilly, Nagaland also grows some of the sweetest and juiciest organic pineapples. With little or no fiber, the pineapples here are known to literally melt in your mouth.

The best place and time to find these delicious delights are along the road between Kohima and Dimapur during the months of June-August. As you drive past the scenic and very bumpy road, you will find the roadside speckled with quaint little bamboo-woven family-run stalls laden with local products like passion fruits, plums, bamboo shoot, and of course, pineapples! The nectar-rich fruits are sold as a whole or on little bamboo sticks kept in a glass bottle – perfect as a healthy sugar-kicking snack on a hot humid day.

Luckily for us, we met a local vendor and his family who were just bringing in a fresh batch from their farm a few kilometres away in traditional bamboo baskets. He assured us that the pineapples were delicious and he even cut a pineapple with his dao (a tribal machete) for us. And true to his word, it was insanely luscious, dripping with sticky juice and infusing the air around with a heavy, syrupy and languid fragrance. Seeing the undeniable joy and surprise on our faces, he happily cut more slices for us.

After 12 sticks of tropical juiciness, 20 spikey pineapples in the backseat of the car and a promise to tell people about his delicious fruit, the departure from the smiling vendor was sweet in more ways than one.