pineapples-msg - 12/10/06
Pineapples and their introduction to Europe.
NOTE: See also the files: apples-msg, fruit-quinces-msg. sugar-msg, vegetables-msg, melons-msg, nuts-msg, pomegranates-msg, cherries-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 19:10:24 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: Re: SC - Pine nuts
Incidentally, surfing the web late one night, I came upon a reference
from a classical text that referred to a pine apple, meaning the pine
cone that grows on pine trees as apples grow on apple trees. This
explained to me a number of both textile designs and food reference to
'pineapple' before the founder of the Dole fortune made it to the Olde
World. Don't know why I didn't immediately copy it into my 'edit' file,
but maybe I'll find it again.
Allison
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 01:10:35 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Fw: [TY] Fruits From 'New World'
>According to the quick ref, Columbus introduced the pineapple (Ananas
>comosus) to Spain in 1493. I haven't seen anything as to when the
pineapple
>reached England, but I suspect it is in the 17th Century, after England
>establishes colonies in the Caribbean.
John Evelyn says in his Diary (9 August 1661): "The famous Queen Pine
brought from Barbados ... the first that were ever seen in England were
those sent to Cromwell foure years since". The term pineapple had earlier
(15th to 17th century) been used to mean pinecone but the ananas (as the
fruit was originally called in English) soon took it over. (John Ayto, A
Gourmet«s Guide.) Jane Grigson says, in her Fruit Book, that at Ham House
near Richmond there is a painting of John Rose, the royal gardener, handing
Charles II the first pineapple grown in England.
Nanna
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 15:41:44 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Fw: [TY] Fruits From 'New World'
> My questions are:
> 1) Approximatley when did the Pineapple reach England (and
> surrounding areas)?
According to the quick ref, Columbus introduced the pineapple (Ananascomosus) to Spain in 1493. I haven't seen anything as to when the pineapple reached England, but I suspect it is in the 17th Century, after England establishes colonies in the Caribbean.
> 2) What other 'New World' fruits were discovered and when...
Also attached to Columbus' return in 1493 is the plantain (Musaparadisiaca), a relative of the banana. The fruit is similar to the fruit of genus Plantago which appears to have been cultivated in Europe at the time and was also known as plantain.
> -Ly. Ganna
Bear
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 20:42:42 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - New World foods
Tollhase1 at aol.com writes:
<< << Pineapple is a bromeliad. >>
I will open my mouth, a what? >>
From the Merriam-Wenbster dictionary:
bro*me*li*ad (noun)
[New Latin Bromelia, genus of tropical American plants, from Olaf Bromelius
died 1705 Swedish botanist]
First appeared 1866
: any of a family (Bromeliaceae) of chiefly tropical American usu.
epiphytic herbaceous plants including the pineapple, Spanish moss, and
various ornamentals
Ras
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 22:17:50 -0600
From: "Michael Newton" <melcnewt at netins.net>
Subject: SC - Fw: QPT & Pineapple
Any other comments? or sources?
Beatrix
(who is allergic to pineapple - it makes me itch)
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Rory McGowen" <pcfry at DSTSYSTEMS.COM>
To: <CALON-BREW at crcvms.unl.edu>
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 3:13 PM
Subject: QPT & Pineapple
> I am sending this to the brew list to head off what I ran into this
> weekend at QPT. In case some of you weren't there, I entered a large
> selection of what my persona would be making and serving in the local
> tavern.
>
> Among the many different beverages, was a Cordial, that I had made from
> start to finish. It started as fresh fruit that I cut up myself, and
> made into wine. After letting the wine sit for a year, I fractionalized
> (freeze distilled) it into a wonderful brandy. I then used it as the
> base liqueur for a nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, and ginger cordial, that
> took another year to make.
>
> Despite its complexity, the only remark I got (on this one item) was
> that my fruit I started with wasn't period. My fruit? The pineapple.
>
> I didn't have the following with me at the event, but some of you may
> want to add this info to your own library for your own future reference.
>
> ***********
>
> http://www4.webpoint.com/spokane_food/ckhistry.htm
> 1493
> The fragrant fruit Columbus "discovered" pineapple on the West Indies
> island of Guadeloupe. The people there called pineapple nana, meaning
> fragrance. This lovely fruit wasn't introduced to Hawaii until centuries
> later. The first recorded planting there was January 21, 1813. That
> event launched an entire industry. Today our 50th state supplies most of
> the pineapples in the world.
>
> ***********
>
> According to Waverly Root in his encyclopedic
> book entitled _Food_, pineapple was discovered
> on the West Indian island of Guadeloupe in 1493
> by companions of Christopher Columbus.
>
> Root goes on to say (in part):
>
> "When Europeans discovered the pineapple, it was a
> case of love at first sight.
>
> "It was first accurately described in 1535 by Gonzalo
> de Oviedo y Valdes, who reported that it had
> delicious taste which combined the flavors of melons,
> strawberries, raspberries and pippins*....
>
> "In 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh wrote on pinas, the princesse
> of fruits, that grow under the Sun, especially those of
> Guiana.
>
> "The only sour note in this paean of praise came from
> Charles V, who, as King of Spain as well as Holy Roman
> Emperor, had an early opportunity to taste the pineapple
> and refused for fear that it might poison him.
>
> "As a rule any new food is slow to enter foreign diets;
> often two or three centuries pass before those unfamiliar
> with it dare eat it. The success of the pineapple was
> immediate; in a little more than half a century after its
> first discover by Europeans, it was being grown--and
> eaten--in tropical areas throughout the world.
>
> "Its transfer to other countries may at first have been
> accidental. Ships leaving America took pineapples aboard
> to provide fresh food for their crews during the voyage
> ... and the crowns, cut off when the fruit was to be eaten,
> were planted wherever the ship touched land to see if
> they would grow there. We have written records of its
> cultivation in India, apparently already well established,
> in 1583. "
>
> ISBN 0-671-22589-8
>
> Rory
> --
> Rory McGowen, CLM
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 10:53:24 -0600
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Pineapples was (Whole to ground spice equivalents)
> I now know
> that pineapple is period....late period, but I could use it in a late
> Tudor/Elizabethan feast and be perfectly correct!
>
> Kiri
It would probably be more correct to use pineapple in a Spanish or
Portuguese feast of the same date rather than Tudor or Elizabethean.
Pineapples were found primarily on the mainland in Brazil. They show up in
Europe around 1517 contemporary with the explorations of the South American
coast.
Some sources credit Christopher Columbus with bring pineapples to Europe on
his first voyage, but I haven't found snything to support that.
BTW, pineapple was also used to describe pine cones.
Bear
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pineapples
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 15:04:56 -0600
AFAIK, they were eaten rarely. I suspect they were eaten raw, but I've seen
no evidence of how they were prepared.
Liguistic evidence suggests that they were known to be edible fruit. The
local name was "nana," which translates to something like "fragrant fruit,"
and that has been used as the basis of the species name, "Ananas." German,
for example refers to pineapples as "Ananas." The Spanish referred to them
as "pinyas," probably because they looked like pine cones, and this seems to
have been transferred to England. So that might tenuously support your
speculation.
It might be worth checking Oviedo's "Historia general y natural de las
Indias, Islas y Tierra-Firme del Mar Oceano" to see if he provides any
evidence of when and where pineapples came to Europe. And Father Jose de
Acosta of the Society of Jesus, comments on pineapples in his "Natural and
Moral History of the Indies," 1589, reprinted in English by the Hakluyt
Society in the 19th Century. Unfortunately, I do not have copies of either
of these works.
Working against your speculation, pineapples were first grown in Europe in
the 17th Century. Therefore, they had to be imported, a rather difficult
and not overly successful undertaking given the nature of the fruit. I've
found no information on how it was done, but I think they would have been
transported as live plants, which would likely limit the availability, even
in Spain.
Leonard Fuchs "Primi de stirpivm historia..." of 1545 has capsicum peppers,
corn, and potatoes, but no pineapple. They also don't appear in any period
paintings I can recall.
The first English monarch I know to have received pineapple was Charles II,
who was painted with one prominently displayed in a bowl of fruit.
Presumably, this was the first hot house grown pineapple in England, which
was grown and presented to the king by John Rose.
Barring more evidence in its favor, I would say pineapples in the English
Court is a very wild speculation.
Bear
> Do we know how they were eaten? Raw? Baked? Stewed? Were they perceived
> to be a fruit (like a strawberry) or a vegetable (like an artichoke)?
>
> Just as a wild speculation, would/could the idea be supported that the
> Spanish Ambassador to England gave them as a gift, or had their cook
> prepare them for a meal in their quarters at the English Court? What
> about Queen Catherine? She was a Spaniard.
>
> MD/Marged
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:15:32 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pineapple
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
There's always this famous picture that we discussed back in 2002.
The link is still valid.
Johnnae
> A picture of Kiri's pineapples that she mentioned
> last April on the list can be found here:
> http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2002/slideshow/slide-163-4.htm
> They were painted by Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1626) who was invited
> by the second grand duke of Tuscany, Francesco I (1541-1587)
> to join his court. "Seventeen of Ligozzi's works are displayed,
> the largest number ever seen outside of Italy. Among them are
> the first known drawing of a pineapple from South America,
> the American Century Plant newly brought from Mexico, and
> Mourning Iris and Spanish Iris."
> The exhibition catalogue from the exhibit is now available again in
> paperback by the way.
>
> Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:24:00 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pineapples and their adoption in Europe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Pineapples are included in the Drake manuscript.
Histoire Naturelle des Indies. The Drake Manuscript
in The Pierpont Morgan Library. 1996.
They are listed as "pinnes."
Johnnae
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:18:12 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pineapples and their adoption in Europe
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
No, it says "one of the earliest references in 1674," leaving the door open
for earlier references. Since the first English pineapple was grown in 1661
by John Rose, there are obviously earlier references. From the blurb, the
article is about the growth of the English pineapple market, not about the
absolute history of the pineapple in Europe, so the references will be to
pineapples in England rather than pineapples in Europe.
The pineapple was encountered on Columbus's second voyage (IIRC) and was
well known to Caribbean sailors of all nations. The Spanish were
experimenting with hot house grown pineapples in the 1520's, with one being
presented to Charles V (1519-1529), according to Davidson.
Bear
> Alys Katherine mentioned in her review of PPC 81:
> <<< Slightly post-period is "The Pineapple in England" by Sandra Sherman which
> starts with one of the earliest references to pineapples in 1674. There
> are numerous citations of written references with appropriate quotations
> from those sources. Her sentence sums up the article's intent: "In this
> article, I want to discuss the pineapple's mystery, and its slow
> domestication as an item of consumption on eighteenth-century British
> tables." >>>
>
> When I saw this, my first thought was "Uh oh. Have I been telling
> folks at demos when I run the New World/Old World food game the wrong
> thing about pineapple? I've been mentioning that it was one of the
> fastest New World foods to be adopted in Europe. And yet this article
> is saying "earliest references to pineapples in 1674". Which is well
> out of our period.
>
<clipped>
> --------
> THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:19:07 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pineapples and their adoption in Europe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Back from my morning MRI appointment.
Bear is correct in that article is more on the adoption of
the pineapple in the late 17th to mid 18th centuries in England.
There are of course many other early references. A good summary
of these is in a book called The Duchess of Malfi's Apricots and
Other Literary Fruits. http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/2001/3417.html
Johnnae
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:31:07 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pineapples
To: <hlaislinn at earthlink.net>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
From at least the 14th Century, pineapple referred to pine cones. Most of
the pineapples which appear in various decorative forms are actually pine
cones rather than stylistic versions of Ananas comosus. In the mid-17th
Century, usage transferred from pine cones to the fruit of A. comosus
because of the visual simularities. G. Havers translation of the The
Travels of Pietro della Valle in the East Indies (1664) makes
reference to
the simularities and places the pineapple in India between 1623 and
1626.
Bear
> The English were crazy about pineapples, if their adoption into heraldry
> is any indication. When i lived in southern Maryland, it seems the
> pineapples were everywhere, used as decoration by the decendants of the
> first English inhabitants who came over in 1634 (Is that right Kiri? It's
> been a few years...). It always bemused me that the pineapple was so
> popular, being a New World fruit and all. It may have been adopted after
> they came to America, but that doesn't make sense to me since pineapples
> aren't indigenous to North America! Pineapples aren't in the PicDic, and
> are only minimally mentioned in Fox-Davies, without dates of course.
>
> ~Aislinn~
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:52:31 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pineapples
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
The pineapple motifs to which you refer are primarily 18th Century
artifacts, when imported pineapple became a local craze. Williamsburg was
founded in 1632 and was the capitol of Virginia from 1699 until 1799, so you
are talking mid-17th through the 18th Centuries at best. Earlier pineapple
decorations would most likely be stylized pine cones.
Bear
> I first ran into them as decorative items in Colonial times when I was
> in school in Williamsburg, VA...and they really were quite popular.
> They signified hospitality, as I understand it. So if they'd been
> around long enough to take on a special significance, they probably
> were know around the turn of the 16th - 17th centuries.
>
> Kiri
<the end>