[2] If you don’t use a glaze, serve it à la mode.

[3] Pineapples are ready to use when you buy them. They don’t ripen after they’re picked (photo © Produce Marketing Guide).

Since the pineapple first reached Europe in the 15th century, it has been considered a symbol of hospitality.

Thanks to Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet Blog, for allowing us to republish her “pineapple story” and pineapple pound cake recipe. The story follows.
 
 
THE INSPIRATION FOR PINEAPPLE POUND CAKE

“Reaching for the heavy brass door knocker standing guard at the entry of my childhood home, I never once questioned why it was fashioned after a pineapple. Design flourishes were not the first priority for the architects who constructed this traditional, simple New England colonial.

“It could have been any shape, but of all the possible symbols to display to guests, the first thing that they grasp upon arrival is this tropical fruit.

“It was because, I discovered, the pineapple was a symbol of generous hospitality. Pineapples, a delicious delight for Europeans (see the painting at the bottom), crossed the ocean in round-trips.

“If the ships were slowed by bad weather, the fruit could rot; hence the great prices. To have such wealth that one could offer these esteemed fruits to visitors spoke of one’s prosperity and generosity.”

The symbolism stuck. Today the average person can buy a fresh pineapple, and anyone can buy canned slices and pineapple juice.

 
Wile one can still install a pineapple door-knocker, eating the pineapple may be the way to go.
 
 
RECIPE: ROASTED PINEAPPLE POUND CAKE

Ingredients For 1 Loaf (8-10 Servings)

1. MAKE the pineapple purée. Heat the oven to 400°F. Peel, core and dice the fruit before spreading the pieces evenly inside a casserole or baking dish. A good amount of juice will be expressed, so you need a vessel with fairly high sides. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes for 60 to 70 minutes, until caramelized. Cool completely before pureeing in a blender or food processor. Yield should be about 1-1/2 cups purée.

This step can be done in advance. If refrigerated overnight, bring to room temperature before mixing into the recipe.

If you have leftover purée, you can whip up a quick glaze by stirring in brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon to taste. Cook the glaze in a pot on the stove until the sugar granules dissolve. Then drizzle or slather on top of the cooled loaf.

2. MAKE the cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F (or lower the temperature from step #1. Lightly grease and flour an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan and set aside.

3. STIR together in a large bowl the flour, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ginger. Add the pineapple purée, oil, milk, vinegar and vanilla, mixing thoroughly until the batter is fairly smooth. It’s perfectly fine to leave a few lumps, rather than risk over-mixing and creating a tough crumb.

4. BAKE for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You may want to tent the loaf with foil half-way through the baking process if you fear it will turn out too dark. Remove the foil as soon as it comes out of the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling, and serve either warm or at room temperature.

—Hannah Kaminsky
________________

*Using olive oil instead of butter is a vegan option and a healthier option with fewer saturated fats (olive oil has 1.9 g/tablespoon, butter has 7 g/tablespoon). However, you can substitute melted butter for oil in a 1:1 proportion. However, while the butter provides buttery flavor, oil creates a moister cake.

†If you would like to add the coconut flavor to cow’s milk, use 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract.
 
 

[4] Charles II is presented with the first pineapple grown in England (1675 painting by Hendrik Danckerts, via Wikipedia).
 
 
PINEAPPLE HISTORY

The pineapple is indigenous to South America, believed to have originated around southern Brazil and Paraguay. The natives of that region carried the pineapple throughout South America via trade. It eventually reached the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayas and the Aztecs.

The first Europeans to see pineapples were Christopher Columbus and his crew, on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, in 1493. Columbus called them piña de Indes, pine of the Indians (because of its visual relation to pine cones). He brought them back to King Ferdinand in Spain. The exotic fruits were an instant hit in the royal court of Spain.

The Portuguese took the fruit from Brazil to India by 1550. The Spanish introduced pineapple to Guam, Hawaii, The Philippines and Zimbabwe. It was brought to northern Europe by the Dutch, from their colony in Surinam.

Given the time it took to go back and forth across the Atlantic to replenish the supply, King Ferdinand gave the order to perfect a hothouse, so the tropical plant could be grown in Spain.

But that took almost 200 years. Even in the late 17th century, when they could be grown in a hothouse, pineapples remained so uncommon and coveted that King Charles II of England posed for an official portrait, in which he received a pineapple as a gift (photo #4).

The gardeners of King Louis XV of France finally presented him with a pineapple that had been grown at Versailles, in 1733. Catherine the Great of Russia relished the pineapples grown on her estates.

What to give the monarch or aristocrat who had everything? A pinery, the special hothouse created to grow pineapples. By the second half of the 18th century, the production of pineapples on British estates had become a great rivalry between wealthy aristocrats.

Down to lesser wealthy mortals: A pineapple centerpiece on a formal dining table said much about a family’s affluence and rank in society. Guests were delighted just to see them.

They weren’t eaten there: They were so expensive and so much in demand that confectioners would often rent them by the day (source)!

By the latter 19th century, pineapple was being grown in Hawaii, largely in gardens. Large-scale cultivation by U.S. companies began in the early 1900s.
 
Pineapple In The 20th Century

Captain John Kidwell is most often credited with founding Hawaii’s pineapple industry, when he began crop development trials in 1885.

However, in 1899 James Drummond Dole arrived and started a pineapple plantation, incorporated as the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, the following year. By 1901 he had pineapple crops on Oahu. Later, canneries were built.

Del Monte was originally the name for private label coffee, made for the Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, California. It expanded into fruit distribution, and arrived more than 15 years after Dole to grow pineapples in Hawaii.

By the middle of the 20th century there were eight pineapple companies in Hawaii, employing more than 3,000 people and growing 80% of the world’s pineapple.

Today, Costa Rica, Brazil, and the Philippines grow nearly one-third of the world’s pineapples. India, Thailand, Nigeria, China, Indonesia, Mexico and Colombia are the next largest producers.

Hawaii isn’t even on the Top 10 list. Del Monte moved its cultivation to Costa Rica; and by 2013, Dole grew only about 0.1% of the world’s production.
 
 

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Americans love melted cheese: on burgers, nachos, pizza, sandwiches, in fondue and queso dips. On the elegant end of the melted cheese menu is a gratin (grah-TAH, although Americans say GRAH-tin), a casserole that is topped with seasoned breadcrumbs and cheese, which is browned.

Potatoes au gratin is a popular rendition, but your favorite vegetables can be given the same treatment* if family members won’t eat their broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans, spinach, etc.

The basic gratin recipe is below. Tailor it to your tastes.
 
 
GRATIN VS. SCALLOPED POTATOES

Our mother was very fond of tomatoes au gratin, when she needed a tomato fix during the winter season. She also preferred onions au gratin to creamed onions for the melty cheese.

Both dishes use thinly-sliced potatoes, and people often use the terms interchangeably. We have seen this error in major online recipe databases, like All Recipes.

And even earlier cooks used what today would be incorrect terminology. Gratin Dauphinois, a French dish of sliced potatoes baked in cream, has no cheese or crumbs.

For today’s correct usage:

 
Before we head to the recipe, here’s some gratin history:
 
 
THE HISTORY OF POTATOES AU GRATIN

Gratin recipes originated in Europe, possibly in Provence, which once used the word gratoneya to a certain way of cooking foods (source).

Most people would think it originally came from the French word gratin, a derivative of the verb grater, to grate.

But in the 16th century, that word referred to what we today call the fond, the French word for bottom, indicating food which sticks to the bottom of the pot and has to be scraped (gratte) off to be eaten.

Since the 19th century the meaning has changed to indicate a crisply baked, browned top, and the term “au gratin” indicates a dish topped with grated cheese.
 
 
RECIPE: POTATOES AU GRATIN (POTATO GRATIN)

This recipe (photo #1), from the Idaho Potato Commission, builds on the original, adding bacon, garlic and scallions.

While gruyère is the classic recipe cheese, this variation uses a combination of gruyère and parmesan.
 
Ingredients

 
Variations

Cooks add their own touches. Here are some suggestions:

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole dish.

2. SLICE a thin layer off the head of garlic and place the bulb on a piece of foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the foil into a pouch and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cloves are soft and tender. Allow the garlic to cool long enough to handle; then squeeze out the cloves and set aside.

[2] Scalloped potatoes are similar to gratin, but don’t have a cheese and breadcrumb topping. Instead, they’re made in a milk base. Here’s the recipe from The Kitchn.

[3] Yukon Golds, the potatoes of choice (photo courtesy Bonnie Plants).

[4] Spinach gratin, with a mix of three cheeses. Here’s the recipe from Everyday Kitchen.

[5] Eggplant gratin, with mozzarella and parmesan. Here’s the recipe from Food For Love.

4. ADD the butter, cream, and roasted garlic to a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Whisk the mixture to combine all of the ingredients and break up the roasted garlic cloves.

5. PLACE a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Pour a thin layer of the cream mixture over the top. Sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. (Season each layer as you build it, and lightly press down on the layers before adding the next one.)

6. TOP with approximately 2 teaspoons chives, 2 tablespoons scallions, 3 tablespoons bacon, and 2 tablespoons cheese. Repeat until all of the potatoes are used up. Top the final layer with the remaining cream, chives, scallions, bacon and cheese.

7. BAKE at 350°F uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the top is crispy and golden brown. Serve immediately.

________________

*Some vegetables, particularly dense ones like broccoli and cauliflower, require some pre-cooking. Check a recipe, but first toss the florets and stem slices in olive oil and a bit of salt, then roast them at 425° for 15 to 20 minutes.
 

[2] A wealth of mushrooms from which to choose (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

[3] Lobster mushrooms. If you can find them, they add color to the plate (photo courtesy Baldor Food).

Tired of avocado toast? We sure are.

It’s not that we don’t like it; it’s just ubiquitous. We’d like a change.

We found inspiration in this mushroom toast from Edwards Dessert Kitchen in Minneapolis (photo #1). We’ve created our version of the recipe, below.

Aim for 3 varieties of mushrooms: different shapes and textures (photo #2—see the different types of mushrooms).

Enjoy mushroom toast for breakfast, for lunch or light dinner with a side salad or soup, or as a first dinner course.

The assorted mushrooms make the dish elegant, and the splash of sherry adds a wonderful richness that enhances the flavor profile, even at breakfast.

To round out the course, a salad of cherry tomatoes and sweet onions, in a Dijon vinaigrette with some fresh herbs, is a nice counterpoint. For crunch, add some celery or fennel. Mesclun works, too.
 
RECIPE: MUSHROOM TOAST

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir the mushrooms, garlic, sherry/wine, salt and pepper until the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

2. REDUCE the heat to low and simmer until the mushrooms are tender, 5 to 8 additional minutes. Remove and set aside, covering to keep warm.

3. SAUTÉ the spinach in the same pan. As an alternative, you can wilt it by pouring boiling water over spinach in a colander. Press to remove water. Season either with with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside and keep warm.

4. TOAST the bread and lightly butter it. As the bread toasts, warm the mushrooms and spinach in the microwave for 45 seconds or more.

5. TOP the toast with the mushrooms, then the spinach and optional herbs. Shave the cheese over the tops and serve.

The fourth week in September is National Wild Rice Week. Did you know that wild rice isn’t rice?
 
 
A COUSIN OF TRUE RICE

Wild rice is a member of the Poaceae family, genus Zizania; it is a cousin to true rice, the genus Oryza.

Like Orzya, it grows in in shallow water. Instead of being cultivated in paddies, as the name indicates, it grows wild in small lakes and slow-flowing streams.

There are four species of wild rice, three native to North America.

 
The tassels at the top of the stalks can be seen swaying over rivers, lakes and floodplains from late August through September.

Called manoomin by the local Chippewa, wild rice is a protected crop that can be harvested only by state residents holding a valid license.

In the Great Lakes region, the rice is harvested by hand, by the Chippewa natives. Paddling in canoes (or propelling with push poles—illustration #3, below), they use the traditional instruments, wooden flails, to make the grains fall from the stalks.
 
 
WILD RICE NUTRITION

Wild rice is high in protein for a grain, second only to oats in protein content. Like true rice, it does not contain gluten.

Wild rice is also a good source of minerals and *vitamins, the amino acid lysine and dietary fiber. It low in fat.

While some recipes and store rice mixes combine wild rice with other versions (white rice, brown rice), this is to keep the cost down. It prevents you from enjoying the joy of wild rice.

[2] One of the most popular preparations: wild rice pilaf with mushrooms (photo and recipe from the New York Times).

Cooked wild rice has about 30% fewer calories than brown rice and 40% more protein. It also contains more fibre, potassium and zinc.

So treat yourself: Spring for a bag and make this recipe, courtesy of The New York Times.
 
 
WILD RICE RECIPES

Wild rice can substitute for potatoes or grains, and is used in a wide variety of foods such as dressings/stuffings, casseroles, salads, soups, even desserts.

Here are some wild rice recipe collections to peruse:

 
We always add it to our Thanksgiving turkey dressing.
 
 
> The different types of rice.

> The history of rice.
 

[3] Nineteenth century tribal women harvesting wild rice in the traditional manner. From The American Aboriginal Portfolio by Mrs. Mary H. Eastman. Illustrated by S. Eastman. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 1853.

________________

*One cup of cooked wild rice provides 5% or more of the daily value of iron, and potassium, riboflavin and thiamin; 10% or more of the daily value of B6, folate, magnesium, niacin and phosphorus; 15% of zinc; and more than 20% of manganese.
 
 

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[2] A hearty masala chai spice blend (photo courtesy Spice Station).

[3] Enjoy your Indian tea in an elephant tea pot (alas, this one from Houzz is no longer available, but other designs are).

[4] Don’t want to make chai concentrate? Buy it from Rishi and other brands (photo by Katherine Pollak | THE NIBBLE).

The fall season ushers in traditional autumnal foods and beverages.

In the latter department, there are apple cider, hot chocolate, mulled wine/mulled cider/hot buttered rum, spiced tea (like Constant Comment), flavor twists on cocktails (like a maple Old Fashioned), and the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte (infamous for its 50g of sugar).

And then, there’s masala chai, which translates to “spiced tea” in English: masala means “spice blend” or “mixture of spices” in Hindi/Urdu‡, and chai is the word for tea.

Note that when someone asks for “chai tea,” in English, they’re asking for “tea tea,” since “chai” already means tea! This is called redundant translation, and if you enjoy learning the quirks of language, check out the ‡‡footnote.

The full term “masala chai” specifically refers to tea brewed with a blend of aromatic spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and black pepper, along with milk and sugar.
 
 
CHAI COMES TO THE U.S.

While everything else on the fall beverage list has been on American menus for centuries, chai has only become nationally popular since the end of the 19th century, when artisan tea companies began to add it to their line. See the history of chai below.

The recipe that follows, from Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead is, pleasantly sweet and spicy, but not too sweet or too spicy. After you try the first batch, you can make it sweeter and/or spicier.

Use your sweetener of choice, or none at all so that people (dieters, the sugar-averse) can have their drink as they prefer. The recipe follows, but first, tea lovers can mark this whole list of tea holidays:

> The year’s 23 tea holidays.

> The history of masala chai is below.

> The history of tea.

> The different types of tea: a photo glossary.
 
 
RECIPE: CHAI CONCENTRATE

Ingredients For 1 Quart Of Concentrate

 
Preparation

1. BRING the water and sweetener to a boil in a medium pot, and simmer until the sweetener is fully dissolved.

2. ADD all of the spices, and continue to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

3. REMOVE the mixture from the heat, add the tea bags, and let them steep for 10 minutes.

4. STRAIN out the spices and tea bags and store the concentrate in the fridge (it will last for several weeks).

5. SERVE: Mix the chai concentrate 1:1 with milk. Gently heat in a small saucepan until it reaches the desired temperature (we heated it for 2:45 minutes in our microwave; yours may take less or more time). Pour into a mug and enjoy…perhaps with some graham crackers.
 
Recipe Tips

The original masala chai (masala means spice, chai means tea), is very different from the contemporary recipe. The first version was an ancient Indian ayurvedic beverage—a cleansing spice tonic that did not include any tea.

When the British began to establish tea plantations in Assam, in 1835, they added milk and sweetener to their tea, as they did at home. At the time, tea was too expensive for most Indians and was largely grown for export (this is unfortunately true of other third-world crops, including coffee).

In the early 1900s, the British-owned Indian Tea Association began to promote tea consumption to Indian consumers. Because black tea was still an expensive ingredient, vendors used milk, sugar and spices—the ingredients of today’s masala chai—to create a flavorful drink while keeping costs down.

The drink’s popularity spread throughout India and became even more popular in the 1960s, when mechanized tea production made black tea affordable for the common man.
 
 
TEA TRIVIA: After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Coffee takes third place.
 
 
________________

*CHAI VS. TEA: All related forms of the word chai—Turkish çay, Russian/Persian/Hindi/Urdu chay, etc.—derive from the original Mandarin, cha. Cha became the Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese word for tea. Other Chinese dialects have different words; e.g. the Wu dialect spoken around Shanghai uses the word zu and the Hokkien dialect spoken around the port of Xiamen in the Fujian province uses the word tay. The word “cha” traveled to the Middle East and Eastern countries, while “tay” traveled to Europe and became our word for tea.

Xiamen was the port of trade first used by Europeans (mainly the Portuguese) in 1541. Near the end of the Ming Dynasty, in 1644, British merchants set up trading posts there; in the 19th century, it was China’s main port for exporting tea. As a result, the Hokkien dialect spoken there, not Mandarin which traveled west via overland trade routes, influenced what Europeans called the beverage. What the Xiamenese people call tay, the British spell tea, the French spell thé, the Spanish té, the Italians tè and the Germans, tee. The pronunciation varies from “tay” to “tee.”

Other words from the Hokkien language that entered English: ketchup (kiô-chap), Pekoe (pekh-hô), kowtow (khàu-thâu) and Japan (Jit-pún).

†Cream tea is a refreshment of a baked scone with jam and clotted cream, served with a cup of tea. It is traditionally enjoyed in the afternoon, often after lunch; but is much simpler than the more elaborate afternoon tea. It originated in the southwest of England in Devon and Cornwall, but now can be found all around the U.K.

‡Hindi and Urdu are very closely related languages that share the same grammatical structure and much of their vocabulary, but they differ in several key ways. Briefly, Hindi is the official language of India (along with English). Urdu is more associated with Islamic culture and was historically the court language of Muslim rulers in the Indian subcontinent. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and also spoken by Muslims in India.

In everyday conversation, Hindi and Urdu speakers can easily understand each other: The spoken forms are essentially the same language. In writing, however, Hindi uses the Devanagari script (the same used for Sanskrit) while Urdu uses a modified Arabic script, written right to left.

Linguistically, many scholars consider them to be two standardized forms of the same language, sometimes called Hindustani.
 
‡‡“Redundant translation” or “RAS syndrome” (Redundant Acronym Syndrome) occurs when English speakers combine a foreign word with its English equivalent. This happens because as foreign words enter English, speakers often lose awareness of the original meaning and treat them as proper nouns or specific terms rather than translations. The redundancy helps clarify meaning for English speakers who might not know the foreign word’s literal translation. Examples:

Food Terms:
> Chai tea (chai = tea)
> Gyro sandwich (gyro = a type of sandwich/wrap)
> Naan bread (naan = bread)
> Panini sandwich (panini = sandwiches, plural of panino)
> Queso cheese (queso = cheese in Spanish)
> Salsa sauce (salsa = sauce)
>Shrimp scampi (scampi = shrimp in Italian)

Geographic Terms:
> Sahara Desert (Sahara = desert in Arabic)
> Rio Grande River (Rio = river in Spanish)
> Mount Fujiyama (yama = mountain in Japanese; it’s just “Mount Fuji” or “Fujisan”)
> La Brea Tar Pits (la brea = the tar in Spanish)

Other Examples:
> PIN number (PIN = Personal Identification Number)
> ATM machine (ATM = Automated Teller Machine)
> HIV virus (HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
> LCD display (LCD = Liquid Crystal Display)

Most English speakers use redundant terms unconsciously and without any intent to be redundant: They’ve simply learned the phrases that way. However, in academic or professional contexts precision matters. Even in social situations, should you correct someone? Yes, if you perceive that the person would welcome the knowledge.
 
 

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