A welcome and a weapon
Pineapples of purpose
Benjamin Boone
Pineapples offer much more than exotic accents to Caribbean cooking.
They can be useful in many ways— and are utilized in textiles and medicine.
There are several kinds of pineapple, including the Kona, Natol Queen, Red Spanish and Perambuco. All take about 18 months to mature and flower shoots that reach up to five feet.
A single pineapple is the fruit of about 100 small flowers. A member of the bromeliad family, the pineapple was cultivated in pre-Columbian times in South America. It’s been written that Christopher Columbus discovered pineapples in Guadeloupe in 1493.
Pineapples are short herbaceous perennials with razor leaves and a skin that protect a dense yellow fruit. The fibrous husk around them is often woven into clothing or fermented into a wine popular in the Orient.
The fruit, peel or juice is also used in folk remedies. During expeditions to China and the West Indies in the 16th century pineapples were eaten to prevent scurvy. Now pineapples are genetically altered and some fruit can weigh up to six pounds.
It is reported that pineapples were brought to the Caribbean by Amerindians. Those cultivated here are smaller than those found in Hawaii, but they are more flavorful.
A dream about pineapple is thought to mean a great success or imminent love.
The pineappleis a symbol of hospitality. Strangely, though the word is military slang for a hand grenade.
Benjamin Boone writes about nature and folklore for virginvoices.com
Print this Article
Click Here to Add a Comment