Why the pineapple?

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The pineapple, believed to have originated in Brazil, spread by Christopher Columbus to Europe, is a symbol of friendship, extravagance, hospitality, and welcome the world over. In traditional island villages, the pineapple was displayed outside their homes as a way to great strangers. Sailors brought the tradition home and it eventually spread to Colonial America. The pineapple grew to signify welcome, good cheer, warmth and celebration in a gracious home gathering. It was an invitation to visit, share food and drink, and listen to tales. A truly American fruit symbolizing our founding society’s abiding commitment to hospitality and the interplay and exchanges between cultures, traditions, and customs among travelers.

Pineapple fun facts:

• Each pineapple plant , a bromeliad, can only produce one pineapple fruit per year
• The whole fruit is really the fused fruit of over 200 individual flowers, creating one pineapple
• Hummingbirds and bats are pollinators
• Commercial farming began in the Bahamas, before moving to Hawaii and now Southeast Asia
• Universal symbol for hospitality is the pineapple, says the book, Welcome to Hospitality: An Introduction
• In the late 17 and early 18^th century, French royalty grew pineapples in special hothouses.
• A pineapple grows as two interlocking helixes, 8 one way, 13 the other; each being a Fibonacci number

Click here for my pineapple upside-down cake, developed while working in the South Pacific aboard SY Discovery.

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