Description
Pineapple is a fruit that the ancient Maya, Incas and Aztecs already knew and cultivated in their land. In 1493 Christopher Columbus had seen this fruit with a strange shape in the Guadalupe. It was called by the natives of South America “dwarf”, while the Portuguese called it “ananz” so it became pineapple in English, in French and in German.
In Spain it took the name of “pina” because it looked very much like a pine cone and then from here it was called “pine apple”. The Spanish writer Fernandez de Oviedo in the sixteenth century defined this fruit as the most beautiful woman in the world of plants, referring to its aesthetic beauty and its taste.
In Europe, pineapple cultivation in greenhouses began around 1700, particularly in France and England. The fruit was much appreciated, too bad its cost is not accessible to everyone. About a century later it found its natural habitat in Hawaii even if today it is still not known who brought this fruit to the islands, perhaps Captain James Cook or many think of the Spanish explorers, because they used to eat pineapples while sailing, very rich of vitamin C, able to protect them from scurvy.
With the passing of time this fruit became a true symbol of Hawaii and took the name of “ha lakahiki”, that is foreigner, and was hung in front of the house entrances as a symbol of welcome. The first pineapple industry appeared in 1900 in the state of California and was at the time Del Monte. Today the biggest productions of this fruit are found mainly in tropical areas and in some countries of Europe, and is the best selling canned fruit in the world.
Pineapple can also be sold and marketed in a can in the form of syrup or juice or dried fruit. You can buy fresh pineapples on the market at any time of the year and for this reason their harvest is anticipated so that both the smell and the taste are very different from those of the fruit in full maturity that is collected from the plant. Among the many curiosities it seems that the fruit of the pineapple is able to double its sweetness in a single night.
Botany
The countries of origin of the pineapple plant are South America, that is between Brazil and Paraguay. It is an evergreen perennial plant, and is shown aesthetically with a grayish-green foliage with a sword-like shape and very pointed until it forms a sort of thick rosette.
As for the inflorescences these are blue with three petals and are inserted in the flowering stem with pink bracts. From every single flower a meaty and succulent fruit is born, grows and ripens, which develops together with the others to form the typical pineapple.
This is a tree surmounted by a huge tuft of dark green leaves which is called a crown. It is characterized in the outer part by numerous polygonal shaped plates, which are joined together. The fruit internally consists of a very hard and woody part the so-called heart and the very sweet and aromatic yellow pulp.
Between the pulp and the rind are small cavities that contain within them tufts. Depending on the variety, there are pineapples with a more or less cylindrical shape and different weight. The flowering of the pineapple occurs only once and loves a temperate climate and tolerates the strong sun very well and withstands high temperatures, but the minimum must never fall below 15 degrees.
The soil must be rich in sand and well drained. In addition to the huge fruit, the pineapple plant is also cultivated as a house plant thanks to its decorative leaves and is also perfectly suited to environments not rich in light even if the foliage in this condition loses some of its natural color .
Recipe for the pineapple in syrup
To make homemade pineapple in syrup you must have the following ingredients available:
½ kilogram of pineapple already cleaned and sliced
½ kilogram of white sugar
½ liter of natural water
2 glass jars of 50 grams each
Method
After having cleaned and sliced the pineapple, let it boil for about a couple of minutes in boiling water. Then drain and leave to cool, then cut into cubes. Sterilize glass jars with boiling water and fill them with the previously processed pieces of pineapple.
Now go to the syrup preparation. Fill a medium-sized saucepan with water and add the sugar to the boil, once ready pour it into the glass jars until the pineapple is completely covered. Close with the airtight cap and invert the cans inside a saucepan full of water and let it boil for about 30 minutes after letting it cool.
