Spain, 1496

The Spanish court is buzzing with excitement at their first taste of a succulent new fruit brought back to Europe by Christopher Columbus after his second voyage to the New World.

This exotic fruit

has become known as a “pineapple” because it looks just like a large pinecone. It is native to southern Brazil and Paraguay where it was spread by the Indians northward through South and Central America to the West Indies. Columbus discovered the fruit when he lowered anchor in a cove off the lush volcanic island of Guadeloupe in 1493 and rowed ashore to inspect a deserted Carib village, where he found cultivated plants bearing fruit.

The pineapple has become a “Regal” fruit, an item of celebrity and curiosity for royal gourmets and horticulturalists alike.

and so it happened! they say!