The Prickly Meanings of the Pineapple
The fruit had gone from being a rare curiosity to become an expensive but attainable luxury, at least for the wealthy. It became common practice to display a fresh pineapple at dinner parties to impress guests. This led to delightfully absurd situations: the pineapple became valued more for showing than for eating, and some people, who wanted to sh... See more
How pineapples got cheap
Botanically, a tomato is the fruit of the Lycopersicon esculentum, a small plant native to Central and South America that was introduced to the rest of the world during the age of first European transatlantic sailings but which took generations to establish worldwide appeal.
Vaclav Smil • How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
The first English recipe for a pineapple tart appeared in The Country Housewife in 1732, but, for the most part, those who were able to grow or obtain a pineapple wouldn’t have dreamed of eating it. ”Why would you eat that? It would be a bit like eating your Gucci handbag. What a waste,” Beauman explained. Instead, nobles would show it off to their
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