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Rating: 
Summary: Really good fun, informative and lots of exotic experiences
Review: As abov
Rating: 
Summary: A must read
Review: I expect you are all wondering what can the question possibly be to which the answer is a pineapple?Well, let me tell you, the best way to find out is to read the book! Claudia, in an impossibly modest fashion calls herself at the beginning of this book, a trailing spouse of an international civil servant. I am reminded a bit, of a colleague of mine when I was teaching, who went with her husband to Melbourne when he was transferred there. And the headmistress said in the farewell speech: "She is following her husband to Melbourne"; and we all had a good vision of her, running down the Hume Highway a good distance behind, trailing her husband to Melbourne! Claudia also describes it as a series of scribbles about a tropical fruit. Well, let me tell you, it's a heck of a lot more than that. I must say that I've always had two views of the pineapple. One was that it was something to eat or to drink; in various savory or sweet situations. And the other was that it was a decoration - the pineapple shape could be used decoratively. And particularly in those extremely elegant C18th, Brighton Pavilion type situations - where its symetrical shape lent itself to finials and stair knobs and pretty things like that - with often a bit of gilding about. And of course in that sort of decoration, you can see the connection between the pineapple and the pinecone, which is the reason for it's having this particular name in English. And of course both these things are important in the book but there's more, much more. You can read it for the text or for the pictures and the recipes. And I can recommend both although I was going to say I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but one of the ones I wanted to try was the galloping horses, which are the slices of pineapple with that delicious little meaty thing - and I have tried those now and they are very good. So, if you want to make them, there they are. And I'm very pleased that there's that 50s recipe for upside down pineapple cake, which I'd lost my recipe of too, so I'm very pleased to have it back! And I agree with Claudia who disagrees with Jane Grigson that you have to have bits of cherry in it. You know, pineapple rings with bits of cherry in it - you turn it out and it's very good - the 50's got some things right! It is also a fascinating and immediately accessible array of information. I love books which tell me things that I don't know. Especially things that I didn't know that I didn't know! Claudia goes into every imaginable aspect of the pineapple and I found this absolutely fascinating I have to say. There is the ceremonial, ritual, spiritual angle. There's the medical and of course the culinary. There's the historical and the horticultural. There's the botanical. There's the textile and travel aspects and of course there's the autobiographical. Those who know her will find her again in this book and those who don't will make her acquaintance. They'll learn about her life and her interests and particularly her interest in textiles. It wouldn't occur to a lot of people that a book about a pineapple would be a book very much about textiles but in fact this is. The passion and affection with which she writes is actually very exciting I think. She is fascinated by the meanings of things and she pursues these through all sorts of quite remote and I suspect extremely difficult places. You also get her interests in galleries and collecting and labeling; her fascination with the linking of proverbs and aphorisms with visual images. Now a lot of you when you received your invitations to this launch would have received a piece of money with it I think. This, here - which Claudia describes as coming from a kind of Chinese Pelligrini's in Singapore. It's actually lucky money. You burn this and it brings you prosperity. And she remarks in the book - in fact, we are all supposed to burn these when we have them but none of us are going to! We are all going to keep them which is probably terribly unlucky! It's made of paper with gold on it. It probably burns well I should think! As Claudia remarks, this paper has all sorts of things printed on it but this is the first time she has seen pineapples on the money which we burn for good luck. And I'll just read you a bit of the book and you'll see what is in store for you. "The reason for all these glorious representations of the King of Fruit is that for the Chinese, particularly in south-east Asia, the pineapple has come to be the symbol of prosperity. The inscriptions on the paper money portraying the pineapple say "money comes" and one explanation is that in Hokkien the word for pineapple which sounds phonetically in English like "ong lai" is very like the word that means "prosperity comes". So much of Chinese symbolism refers to something which has a name that sounds just like the word for a virtue or an emotion or a condition. The monosyllabic nature of the Chinese language, in which the same sound can mean many different things, lends itself to a play on words. Decorative motifs are part of a symbolic, homophonic language that uses images to speak. It is a glorious system of visual puns and a logical fascination." One of the really interesting things for me in this book was the way that Claudia makes connections all the way through, between the visual and the proverbial or the aphoristic. She also tells us how delighted she was to discover in the Philippines at least 46 riddles to which the answer is a pineapple. "I wear a crown but I am not a Queen", "I have scales but I am not a fish". And the answer? So there are at least 46 times, and probably more because there are variations - when that answer comes out. Finally, let me say to you Christmas is coming and to the question about what to buy for presents: I suggest the answer is: "and the answer is a pineapple"! But you'll want one for yourself as well!
Rating:
Summary: Four and One-Half Pineapples, I Mean Stars
Review: I find myself in between four and five on this book. It easily would have been five, had the author not drifted so much in telling us about her world travels and daily excursions. Maybe it's just a male thing, though. The culture of the pineapple discovered by this world traveler are fascinating and informative. Being crazy for pineapple, I enjoyed very much hearing about its beginnings and spreading thorughout the tropics and sub-tropical regions. The insights about medicinal, spritual, fabrics and ornamental are most interesting. The recipes are solid, unique and the color photographic displays of food groupings are nicely done. Interested in more recipes, see Norm VanAken's "The Great Exotic Fruit Book" and his wonderful "New World Cuisine." Long live the King of Fruit!
Rating:
Summary: Four and One-Half Pineapples, I Mean Stars
Review: I find myself in between four and five on this book. It easily would have been five, had the author not drifted so much in telling us about her world travels and daily excursions. Maybe it's just a male thing, though. The culture of the pineapple discovered by this world traveler are fascinating and informative. Being crazy for pineapple, I enjoyed very much hearing about its beginnings and spreading thorughout the tropics and sub-tropical regions. The insights about medicinal, spritual, fabrics and ornamental are most interesting. The recipes are solid, unique and the color photographic displays of food groupings are nicely done. Interested in more recipes, see Norm VanAken's "The Great Exotic Fruit Book" and his wonderful "New World Cuisine." Long live the King of Fruit!
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