The first seminar i went to at this years Tales was about the pineapple. Not so surprisingly i found a lot of the tiki folks in there…
The seminar took us through the history of the pineapple and there was a lot i didn´t know about this royal fruit.
The first wild pineapples came from South America and they had a strong scent of raspberries and were smaller than the pineapples we see today and needed to be pollinated by birds. They were discovered by an indian tribe called Guarani and they made pineapple wine.
In 1654 the pineapple came to Madagascar and then it traveled all around the world. When it finally came to England around the 18-1900th century it was a big thing. The pineapple fruit was really precious and not for the common people to enjoy but was the fruit of the kIngs.
In 1778 Capt Cook brought it to Hawaii and those pineapples he brought must have come from the Kew gardens in England since that was the place they were grown in Europe.
So in Hawaii a man named James Dole planted 50 000 pineapples and on his third year he sold 25 000 cases by his company called Hawaiian Pineapples which later changed to the name we know today – Dole´s.
Then there was a brief decline in the popularity of the pineapple until some bright person invented an “adult pineapple on the go” – Â which was a ready made pina colada beverage.
The king of fruits was back! and it`s not anymore the fruit for the kings – but the king of fruits! - and to me the pineapple IS the king of fruits! there´s a reason why i chosed to attend this seminar! and of course we were served a few nice cocktails and a particularly tasty pina colada.
How to pick a good pineapple fruit
1 – look at the bottom – does it look healthy and fresh?
2 – Outside skin – should be flat and smooth, have a nice pattern – a sign of full development.
3 – Smell – they should have a pronounced smell of pineapple
4 – Give it a squeeze on one of the “points” on the skin, it should slightly give away for pressure.
5 -It should be heavy for it´s size = good and juicy.
I think the pineapple is one of the most versatile fruits out there, you can juice it, grill it, puree, garnish (and elaborately so) make ice creams and sorbets, it goes with grilled food and meats, pairs with a lot of things and it´s a fruit that makes you happy! – what can you NOT do? there´s even a house in Scotland that has a pineapple roof!
This was served at the Angostura rum pool party, it`s a rum sauce made with Angostura 5 yo rum, cinnamon and honey to dip fresh pieces of pineapple skewers in, do i need to say it was absolutely delicious!
Now y´all can go ahead and make some nice drinks with pineapple in them! this fruit s KING! and here is a recipe for a nice drink:
 Samoan Typhoon
0.75 oz fresh lime
1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1 oz fresh orange juice
0.5 oz liquid honey
0.25 oz sugarcane syrup
0.25 oz passionfruit syrup
2 oz Appleton Extra dark Jamaican rum
0.5 oz  Smith and Cross strong dark Jamaican rum
0.75 oz vanilla flavored vodka (natural homemade with tahitian beans)
2 cups crushed ice
Dissolve honey in lime juice and place in a blender with all other ingredients and blend for 30 seconds. Pour in a tiki mug or tall glass and fill up with more crushed ice.
Garnish with pineapple leaves or slice and if you wish maraschino cherry.
Pineapple sticks served at the seminar.
