REGENCY RELOADED

LET’S CUT THROUGH THE GLAM AND LOOK AT THE GRITTY,
THE COMICAL, AND ALL THE WEIRD AND FASCINATING
STUFF THAT MAKES THE
REGENCY ERA SO GREAT

WHEN THE PINEAPPLE WAS KING

Or, at least, it was the fruit of kings, including Charles II and Louis XIV. When the Sun King encountered his first pineapple, he was so eager to taste it that he bit into it before it was peeled, cutting his mouth on the prickly skin. One can only imagine the fuss that would have created, especially for the hapless courtier who didn’t warn him first.

So prized was this exotic fruit in the Georgian era, that socially ambitious hostesses actually rented pineapples from specialized traders to grace their elaborately decorated tables. And, apparently, the trade in fresh pineapples could be pretty cut-throat, so scoring the prize said something quite significant—both about the hostess’s social status and her domestic skills.

Did they actually eat the darn thing? More on that later.

The pineapple first grew in the inland areas of Brazil and Paraguay, but was widely transplanted throughout the Caribbean. It was cultivated by the Carib Indians, who loved it so much they not only ate it, they made it into wine. History notes that the first European to “discover” the fruit was Columbus, when he landed on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493. When he and his crew came ashore at a deserted Carib village, they found piles of fruits and veggies, including the pineapple. Legend has it they also found cooking pots full of human body parts, but that’s a topic for another blog. Maybe.

The pineapple became all the rage in Renaissance Europe. Gardeners tried for two centuries to grow the fruit, but with no success. Only the rich and famous could afford it, and it remained so uncommon and so coveted an item that King Charles II posed with a pineapple in one of his official portraits.

It took two centuries for Europeans to successfully develop a hothouse method of growing pineapples. Until that happened, a hostess’s ability to have a pineapple on her table was considered a social coup. And if she couldn’t afford to buy it, then she could do the next best thing. Madame Hostess could rent her pineapple by the day, incorporating the spiky fruit into one of the towering centerpieces on her dining room table. Once returned to the trader or merchant, the pineapple would then be sold to wealthier clients, who could actually afford to peel, eat, and enjoy the sweet fruit of kings.

Sources:
Symbolism of the Pineapple - Hoag Lewis
Pineapple Legend and Lore – About.com: Home Cooking
New World Encyclopaedia

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