A Strange Food Combination

Over a meal recently, I pondered the thought of why pineapple, known as ‘abacaxi’ here in Portugal, goes so well with gammon ham or bacon steaks. Was that an accidental discovery or what? Perhaps it’s the combination of sweet with savoury, one complementing the other.

How pineapple found its way to ham begins way back in November 1493, when Columbus made his second voyage to the ‘New World’, landing on what is now the island of Guadalupe. Columbus was perplexed (to say the least) to find - instead of gold or silver - pineapples. He took some back with him to be presented to the King and Queen of Spain, with the King apparently declaring them ’his favourite’.

Ultimately it would take some years more for them to become globally adored, and because shipping them was so expensive, they became known as the fruit of kings. European horticulturists spent decades trying to grow them far from their comfort zones - the Dutch brought one to fruit in 1687, the French in 1733. The whole process was expensive and turned out tiny, often gnarled specimens. _it was said the efforts and cost to produce one fruit was nearly €100, an enormous amount in those days. That made pineapples, at least then, not just a luxury for rich people, they were the Rolls Royce of fruit, more status symbol than anything else.

Canning

Canning technology created the possibility for once-scarce tropical luxury foods to become normal and every day. James Dole would cash in on this new process in 1900, after establishing the Hawaiian Pineapple Company - and competitors like Libby and Del Monte would follow suit. By the early 20th century, pineapples were available to anyone who wanted them. The only problem was that canning was slow to catch on with consumers, and canning companies had trouble convincing people that what they said was inside the opaque tin really was inside, and outbreaks of botulism and food poisoning were blamed on canned goods (sometimes quite rightly as it happens).

To get their pineapple into more kitchens, companies took out ads in pages of women’s magazines, and they printed recipe booklets, like ‘How We Serve Hawaiian Canned Pineapple’, then later ‘99 Tempting Pineapple Treats’. With pineapple showing up in plenty of meat and vegetable recipes, it revealed just how much pineapple was being used in savoury cooking.

And of course, tourism began to take root with Hawaii - still producing 1/3^rd of the world’s pineapples – becoming a popular resort, often featuring a roast pig with pineapple, and I guess the rest really is history. Baking a ham with pineapple rings was a way to bring a little paradise into your home. Can’t afford an exotic vacation? Then throw a ‘casual island feast’, or ‘create a ray of Hawaiian sunshine at your table’.

Growing in the Azores

Pineapples, Ananas comosus, is actually a bromeliad and grows on the Portuguese island of São Miguel in the Azores, and although not warm enough to grow outdoors, they do well in greenhouses, of which there are many.

Grow your own!

They say it’s possible to grow one yourself from a purchased fruit. Twist off the leafy top, and strip off some of the lower leaves to expose the stem. The root buds around the edge of the stem should be visible. Set the pineapple stem aside for several days to allow the cut end to dry out before planting, then place it in a pot of compost, and water it well. To propagate it in soil, simply dip the cut end in water, then dip it into a rooting hormone to increase your chances, and plant in soil. Here’s something I didn’t know – the pineapple is a perennial plant that only produces 1 fruit every 2-3 years, so if your plant successfully grows, be prepared to wait!

Despite the name, Hawaiian Pizza didn’t come from Hawaii - the pizza was actually created in Canada in 1962 by a Greek immigrant called Sam Panopoulos who owned a restaurant with his brothers in Ontario!

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan