Title:
Silver Pinya
Description:
Morga attests to pineapple being eaten and grown in Manila of 1595-1603. It was native to Brazil (that had been a Portuguese colony) and Paraguay. It seems to have been introduced by Hispanics to Filipinas, although Portuguese already had brought it earlier to India where they cooked it with sugar into preserves. It was growing in Agra’s royal garden during the reign of Akbar, 1556-1605. By the 1800s, pineapple was thriving around Filipinas. It became a European symbol of wealth and hospitality. Ornate wooden toothpicks were carved by prisoners and stuck into silver pineapples like the pair in the photo and used to decorate festive tables as written about by Rizal. Today pinya is a source of country profit and a health food.
Subjects:
Pineapple
Exhibition:
Antonio Morga 30
Source:
Martin Tinio, “The Silver Set” in FILIPINO HERITAGE, VII: 1718-1721 (1978)
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Silver Pinya", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll072.html