The Pineapple

Besides being a wonderfully sweet and tastey “nosh”,  the pineapple has served as a symbol of hospitality and warm welcome through the history of the Americas.

Oh gosh, we have Christopher Columbus to thank for so many things and yes, we have him to thank for finding the first pineapple.  On his second voyage across the Atlantic, he and his men landed on the island of Guadalupe in the Caribbean.  It was here that he had his first taste of this sweet, succulent fruit.

Thus, in 1493, Columbus brought the pineapple back to Europe where it was received with joy!   The pineapple’s exotic nature and sweetness soon made it an item that was very popular.   European horticulturists tried (and took two hundred years to find success!), to cultivate pineapples in Europe and in the 1600s, King Charles posed for an official portrait while receiving a pineapple as a gift.  What a trend the pineapple was setting!  It was desired by royalty and therefore desired by all!

In colonial America, the pineapple became the greatest symbol of hospitality.   A visitor would feel most welcomed when she saw a fresh pineapple adorning the dining table of her hostess.

Hostesses would set a fresh pineapple in the center of their dining table when visitors joined their families in their homes.  If their budget could not extend to buying a fresh pineapple, they would be able to “rent” pineapples which they would then return to the grocer who would sell it to someone who could afford to buy and eat it.  If the visitors spent the night, they might be given a bedroom with a bed in which pineapples had been carved on either the bedposts or the headboard.

Although pineapples can be purchased easily by one and all these days, the pineapple continues to be a very welcoming presence in homes…..it speaks of warmth and hospitality  and brings a smile to any guest’s face.

Pineapple, as we know, is yummy all by itself but if you are wanting to incorporate pineapple into a dessert, why not do pineapple and maraschino cherries (cut in half) in the whipped cream, instead of the strawberries, with this meringue dessert?  Your friends will love the taste as well as the hospitable heart with which it is served!

I happen to love, not only eating pineapples, but, more importantly, the hospitable message they send, and have them, in many forms, all over our home.  Pineapple pillows adorn our bed, pineapple Limoges boxes are atop tables, cement pineapples grace our garden and I have a gold pineapple that I wear around my neck!  Yes, hospitable I wish to be and I can only hope that our guests feel it!

Rejoicing in the love, joy and abundance this wonderful fruit symbolizes!