The Exotic History of the Pineapple

Nicola here.  Today I am celebrating the history of the pineapple as a European sweet treat. The pineapple was one of the fruits that was first brought to Europe by Columbus and it quickly became an item of celebrity and curiosity. Although English horticulturalists tried to cultivate it, it was two hundred years before they were successful. As a result, in the seventeenth century the pineapple was both expensive and sought after, affordable only for royalty and the very rich. In a work of 1640, John Parkinson, Royal Botanist to Charles I, described the pineapple as:

Scaly like an Artichoke at the first view, but more like to a cone of the Pine tree, which we call a pineapple for the forme... being so sweete in smell... tasting... as if Wine, Rosewater and Sugar were mixed together. (Theatrum Botanicum)

This portrait of King Charles II receiving a pineapple as a gift emphasises its role as a symbol of royal privilege. 

By the 18^th century, ships were bringing in preserved pineapples from Caribbean islands as expensive sweetmeats--pineapple chunks candied, glazed and packed in sugar. The whole fruit was even more costly and difficult to obtain. Wooden ship travel in the tropics was hot, humid and slow, often rotting pineapple cargoes before they could be landed. It was extremely difficult to get a pineapple back to Europe before it become inedible. So sought after was the pineapple that confectioners sometimes rented them to households by the day to be used purely as a decoration. Later, the same fruit was sold to other, more affluent clients who actually ate it. There’s definitely a story idea in there!

Whimsical pineapple shapes and interpretations became very popular food creations and general table decorations throughout the 1700s and 1800s. There were pineapple-shaped cakes, pineapple-shaped gelatine moulds, sweets pressed out like small pineapples, pineapples made of gum and sugar, pineapples made of creamed ice, biscuits cut like pineapples and pineapple shapes created by arrangements of other fruits. There were also ceramic bowls formed like pineapples, fruit and sweet trays incorporating pineapple designs, and pineapple pitchers, cups and even candelabras.

Many confectioners also used the pineapple as a sign of the luxury quality of their wares. n 1757 an Italian pastry cook named Domenico Negri opened a confectionery shop at 7-8 Berkeley Square under the sign of “The Pot and Pineapple”. Negri’s impressive trade card not only featured a pineapple, but it advertised that he was in the business of making English, French, and Italian wet and dry sweetmeats.

As a result of being the focus of a display of exotic food, the pinnacle of the feast, the pineapple was adopted as a symbol of hospitality. Part of the theatrical element of dining in the 18^th century was to keep the dining room doors closed to heighten visitors' suspense about the table being readied on the other side. At the appointed moment, and with the maximum amount of pomp and drama, the doors were flung open to reveal the evening's main event. Visitors confronted with pineapple-topped food displays felt particularly honoured by a hostess who obviously spared no expense to ensure her guests' dining pleasure.

In this manner, the pineapple came to signify a sense of welcome, good cheer, warmth and celebration. Sailors returning home would place a pineapple on their gatepost to indicate that they were back and ready to welcome visitors. The pineapple developed as an architectural decoration, with carved wooden or stone pineapples decorating gate piers and being incorporated into interior carvings. These gateposts at Hamstead Marshall, seat of the Earl of Craven, were a 17th century example of the pineapple used as the crowning glory to display wealth and importance.

 

 

One particular Scottish peer went a step further and created a pineapple building. The Pineapple is an elaborate summerhouse of two storeys, built for the 4th Earl of Dunmore. It probably began as a pavilion of one storey, dated 1761, and only grew its fruity dome after 1777, when Lord Dunmore was brought back, forcibly, from serving as Governor of Virginia. Lord Dunmore, who was fond of a joke, announced his return in this prominent fashion by building a pineapple dome 37 feet high.

 

It has been suggested that the pineapple summerhouse may have been a somewhat belated wedding present to his wife after their marriage in 1759. Dunmore had developed a taste for pineapples whilst in America and wished to grow them in his walled garden. Gardeners would then have been housed comfortably in the bothies on either side of the pineapple. Lord Dunmore’s son, the 5th Earl wrote how "hothouse fruit ... was sent every fortnight from Dunmore Park, where my father had no house, but an excellent garden". These days The Pineapple at Dunmore is a holiday cottage and you can stay there!

 Are you a fan of exotic fruit? Have you ever used pineapple in food art or as a decoration? And would you like to take a vacation in the pineapple building?

  

Comments

[Anne Gracie]

Lovely blog, Nicola -- so interesting. The use of pineapples in British history has always fascinated me, especially since, even though we grow them in Australia, in the cooler south where I live, we never get them as sweet and ripe as in the northern parts of Australia where they're grown. I can't imagine what pineapples grown in 19th century English hothouses would taste like, but I suppose they had no basis for comparison. It's fascinating, though -- thanks.

[Andrea Penrose]

Absolutely fascinating blog, Nicola. It always seemed weirdly interesting to me that pineapples were so popular with the British, especially as a sign of welcome and good cheer. But then, exotic and costly items have always had an allure and served as a sign of status. Really fun to know all this sweet tidbits of history!

[Vicki W.]

Thank you for all that background on pineapples. I'd known they were a sign of hospitality but all the rest...that I didn't know.

The best pineapple I ever ate was a couple of years ago when I was in Florida. We had gone down in July for a wedding and my mom bought a pineapple fresh from the grower. It was SOOOOOoooooo sweet and tender. I was sorry there were 6 of us sharing it because I could have eaten the whole thing myself.

[Lillian Marek]

A delicious blog!
I have, actually, used a pineapple for decoration. I frequently have one in the center of the greens on the mantlepiece at Christmas time, flanked by oranges and lemons. It even smells appealing (so long as I take it all down before the pineapple starts to rot).

[Elinor Aspen]

How delightful. It reminds me of the fashion for drinking vessels made from coconuts during the same time period (the Victoria & Albert museum has an impressive collection). Those of us who live in northern climates cannot help but feel drawn to tropical exotica, in any century. I would love to stay in the pineapple building. I'll have to put it on my bucket list.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Anne. I'd love to read more about the cultivation of the pineapple and other exotic fruits in English hothouses because it was such a popular thing to do and I'd be fascinated to taste homegrown fruits for myself. I expect Kew or one of the other big gardens could tell us. Another blog topic!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks, Cara! It's always fascinating to see the things that are adopted as status symbols, isn't it! I love that the pineapple also became a symbol of hospitality!

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Vicki! I know what you mean about wanting to eat the whole thing yourself! When I visited Costa Rica I was blown away by how delicious the fruit tasted. I think I would eat a lot more of it if I lived somewhere like that. The mangoes in particular were so different from England where they are so often either under-ripe (and never ripen) or over-ripe because they have been travelling a while to get here!

[Nicola Cornick]

How wonderful, Lillian! I love the idea of a festive pineapple flanked by oranges and lemons. They are such interesting visual items and as you say, smell lovely as well!

[Nicola Cornick]

I didn't know about coconuts, Elinor. Thank you, I will read up on that. Some of these things were still exotic in the 20th century, weren't they. I remember avocados were the height of sophistication when I was a child and as for lychees...

[Mary Jo Putney]

Wonderful blog, Nicola! You got my mouth watering. *G* The Mayhem Consultant's father had a real gift for picking out the best pineapples--still another reason to miss him.

Now I'm wondering about Lord Dunmore being forcibly removed from Virginia!

[Lady Wesley]

Very interesting. I had often wondered how/why the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality, and now I know!

[Shannon]

I, too, knew pineapples were the symbol of hospitality, but I found the history interesting.

As for Lord Dunnmore, I recall hearing his story while at Williamsburg but I don't remember details. I think he ran away from Williamsburg after some decisive battle against the British. The story line while I was at Williamsburg was that Lord and Lady Dunnmore were hosting a spring ball, but those colonists, like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, who favored independence would graciously not attend the festivities. The pineapple symbol is quite common in the governor's palace.

[prema]

How fascinating that the Pineapple occupied such a high status in bygone times! I was reminded of the time when I heard that aluminum was so rare in the 18th century that only nobles ate off aluminum plates!!

Regarding fruits: When I first ate a kiwi I was so disappointed. It looks just like the sweet sapota that grows in India from the outside. But the sapota has brown flesh and a large seed. It is as sweet as a mango!
I cannot wait for it to become popular in the US!

[Jenny]

Great information Nicola. Next time I visit my local supermarket and see all the pineapples for sale I will imagine the status it should have but doesn't, being displayed cheek by jowl with apples, oranges, mangoes, star fruit, kiwi fruit and all other types here in southern, Tasmania. We are so lucky today with all the fruit readily available and usually give no thought to the history and how difficult it was in years gone by to get even a glimpse of such exotic food stuffs.

Tomorrow I shall go to my local fruit shop and buy myself a pineapple!

[Janice]

Most pineapple here in the US used to come from the Dole lands on Hawaii, but that has changed; it now comes from Costa Rica. My nutritional counselors allow fresh pineapple because it has a lot of fiber in it which offsets the sugar, so I generally have some fresh pineapple every morning instead of the orange juice I used to have. I like it a lot.

[Nicola Cornick]

That sounds like a wonderful talent to have, Mary Jo!

I think Lord Dunmore was A Liability! It sounds as though he caused quite a lot of trouble!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it an interesting blog!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you for the information on Lord Dunmore, Shannon. Clearly he was not an asset!

[Nicola Cornick]

How interesting about aluminium, Prema. This is one of hte things I love about the Word Wench blog - I learn such a lot!

I haven't heard of the sapota and it sounds wonderful!

[Nicola Cornick]

Yes, that's so true, Jenny. We have such a huge variety of fruit to choose from these days and available all the time. I rather like the idea of living at a time when the pineapple was marvelled over!

[Nicola Cornick]

Mmm, delicious, Janice! Yes the fibre element is an added benefit.

[Shannon McEwan]

It's strange to think of the pineapple as being a status symbol. It's such a silly looking fruit - as clearly appreciated by the Earl of Dunmore. Who would have thought that the Big Pineapple in Queensland had such a noble antecedent? Thank you for a very interesting read, Nicola (and I've put the Pineapple at Dunmore on my must-see list!)

[OliviaDade]

This is fascinating. I worked at Colonial Williamsburg for about seven years, often leading tours through the Governor's Palace, so I talked about Lord Dunmore A LOT. Yet somehow I never knew that he built a pineapple-shaped summerhouse once he left Virginia. That's awesome!

If I remember correctly (I've been out of CW a few years now), Lord and Lady D. had lots of kids. So she probably deserved a summerhouse built in any shape she wanted. A pineapple, a musket, an acorn, a hedgehog...whatever!

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Shannon! Yes it is a rather odd looking fruit, isn't it! The great thing about the Pineapple at Dunmore is that you can visit it without staying there as the gardens belong to the National Trust for Scotland.

[Nicola Cornick]

How wonderful that you did tours of the Governor's Palace at Williamsburg, Olivia. I would love to visit there! Good old Lady D - sounds as though a pineapple was the least she deserved!

[HJ]

I've always been fascinated by how often the pineapple motif appears in stone on gateposts and on walls so I'm interested to learn why!

I find it a bit surprising that "Sailors returning home would place a pineapple on their gatepost to indicate that they were back and ready to welcome visitors"; given that pineapples were so rare, wouldn't they rather serve them to their visitors? And how long would one remain untaken on a gatepost? Or did they use a carved wooden pineapple for this purpose?

[Nicola Cornick]

Yes, that's a good point, HJ. Maybe the pineapples were past their best - not that you would want to tempt people to visit with a rotten fruit! More research required here, I think!