Tropical Fruits

The Pineapple

The Indian, Guaraní name for ‘pineapple’ is ‘nana’, which signifies ‘perfumed’. The French word for ‘pineapple’, ‘ananas’, derives from this. The Spanish called pineapples ‘piñas’ because they looked like pinecones.José de Acosta (1590): ‘[Pineapples have] an excellent smell’ and are ‘very pleasant and delightful in taste’.

Thomas Gage (1648): ‘But I cannot forget that which they call piña, or pineapple; not the pineapple of the high pine tree, but a pineapple that groweth upon a lower shrub with prickly leaves, and is bigger than our biggest musk melons in England, when it is ripe; it is yellow without and within. Without, it is full of little bunches, and within, so juicy and cool that nothing is more dangerous than to eat much of it. Before they eat it, they cut it in round slices, and lay it a while in salt and water, and so being scoured half an hour in that salt and water which taketh much of the rawness and coldness from it, they then put it into dishes with more fresh water, and eat it thus. But the better way of eating it is preserved, which is absolutely the best preserve in all that country.’

Ilarione da Bergamo: ‘This fruit is inappropriately called piña by the Americans because of its shape resembling an Italian pinecone, but its real name is ananas; and it is the fruit that the plant delineated on page 59 [of the MS] produces. It is very singular fruit in America, too – though there it is found in abundance - because of its exquisite sweet flavour with a tinge of sourness and because of its very delicate aroma. I liked them a lot and ate quite a few of them during the time of my stay in these lands. They thrive in warm climates, but the ripe fruits are taken everywhere to sell. The skin is cut the same way as a watermelon. Then it is divided into slices, with a little pulverised sugar on top. And when it is eaten, it fills the mouth and the chin with a very delicate juice. From this fruit American women make a preserve that is quite unique.’

Portuguese naturalise pineapples in India, Madagascar, Java and Indonesia.Pineapples cannot be transported fresh to Europe because they go off during the long voyage.Dutch grow pineapples in hothouses from 17th century. French and British follow.

Charles II receives a pineapple from his gardener John Rose (1670)

Pineapple teapot (1760)

Earl of Dundonald’s folly (1777)

Avocados

Native to Central America. Esteemed by the Mayas and the Aztecs. Nahuatl name is ‘awaguatl’, which the Spanish transcribe as ‘avocado’. The Spanish eat avocados in guacamole, as a sauce, and the also sometimes served them as a dessert, in conjunction with sugar. The French transport avocados from America to their colonies in the Indian Ocean like Mauritius. Mexicans are still the main consumers of avocados, eating an estimated 15 kilos per head of avocados each year.

Bananas

Originate from the Old World rather than the New World, but soon domesticated in the New World Spanish call the banana ‘plátano’, owing to its supposed resemblance to the European plane tree. Banana plants grow from rhizomes, not seeds.Only eaten in large quantities in Europe from 1920s.

Reception

Tropical fruits symbolise America.Travellers mention them often in accounts.Represent sweetness, sensuality and luxury.

On arrival in Trinidad in 1833 Captain J. E. Alexander reported that he ‘saw the treasures, in the shape of vegetables and fruits, which are here bestowed in luxurious abundance by a bountiful nature . . .The eye delighted to wander over the heaps of pomegranates, guavas, shaddocks, oranges, limes, custard-apples, mangoes, pines, and grenadillos, which could be purchased for very trifling sums’.Lady Emmeline Stuart Wortley at a banquet in Cuba in 1849: guests ‘find an immense profusion of crystal, alabaster, or porcelain vases, and canastillas (small baskets) of silver, loaded with a vast variety of fruits. ‘Mameys’ which says Madame de Merlin, are ‘Alimento de las almas bienaventuradas en los valles del otro mundo, segun la creencia de los habitantes de Haiti’, and the ‘zapatillas suaves’, which she declares have a ‘gusto silvestre’.

Casta Paintings

Natural History Images

Agostino Brunias (18C)

Jean Baptiste Debret (Brazil, 19C)

Plant names

Plants named after the European fruits they resemble.Sometimes also named after the physical properties they possess.Indian names occasionally used or adapted by Spanish.

Banana Republics

19C expansion of fruit trade.United Fruit Company (founded 1899)Plantations established throughout Central America.Workers exploited.US and European companies control government.

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