The Pineapple: The King of Fruits

by Fran Beauman

Cover for The Pineapple: The King of Fruits
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Summary

This enchanting, juicy history takes us from thepineapple's origins in the Amazon rainforests to its first tasting byColumbus in Guadeloupe and its starring role on the royal dinner tablesof Europe. In the eighteenth-century this spectacular fruit despite the fact that, at first, to cultivate just one cost the same as a new coach, every great house soon boasted its own steamingpits filled with hundreds upon hundreds of pineapple plants. As thePrada handbag of its day, a real-life, homegrown pineapple was apowerful status symbol, so much so that at first, it was extremelyunusual actually to eat the fruit. The image appeared on gateposts, onteapots, furniture and wallpaper.
A new phase opened when growersin the Caribbean began supplying pineapples in the 1840s and later thefirst canning factory was built in Hawaii. As the story rolls on,through the heyday of pineapple chunks and cocktails, right up to thefashions of today,it touches on pineapples and sex, pineapples andempire, pineapples in art.
Why is the pineapple so special? In one surprising sense it is indeed ideal. Made up of hundreds of separatefruitlets, its spirals embody the gradations of the Golden Mean - it ismathematically perfect. But it is more than that - for years a focus oftraveller's tales, it is a treasure of sight and scent and taste. Packed with fascinating illustrations, this delicious book sees Fran Beaumanexplore the life and lore of the king of scholarly, witty andfun, it is a true hamper of delights.

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