Pina!

Pineapple is a fruit that I have eaten weekly here in Costa Rica. My Tica Mom gets it fresh for me to have with my breakfasts in the mornings. And I've also eaten it with her after dinner as a little dessert. My Tica Mom told me that pineapple can be eaten cooked (we had a dinner with cooked pineapple and beef), in a juice, fresh, in salads, and smoothies. I've also seen pineapple jelly, but have not tasted it.

The pineapple like bananas and coffee are grown in Costa Rica for export to benefit the country's economy. That is the only reason my Tica Mom gave me for the importance of the pineapple to Costa Rica. I was also pretty surprised that she had no idea what the pineapple symbolized for Costa Ricans. All we've been reading about in class is how the pineapple was the "King/Princess of all fruits" and served as a symbol of pride and culture. But now thinking back a lot of what people in the United States and Europe think about the pineapple came from the explorers and royalty who first ate pineapples and how advertisements were used to manipulate what people thought about the pineapple. Even early in the pineapple's history its inside and outside powers were already being created.

My first picture is from the market that we went to a few weeks back. While we were there pineapples were available pretty much at every other table. They are also readily sold in the grocery stores as whole fruit or in other forms like juice! I've never really thought about all of the different ways that pineapples are used here in Costa Rica because at home in the US I only eat them raw or in smoothies. But every time I have the fruit it's in the raw form. Being in Costa Rica has made me appreciate the pineapple and all of its different forms as well as the history behind the fruit.