Exotic fruit named secret ingredient of English breakfast

Ancient aristocrats added pineapple to the dish

Historians have uncovered a surprising ingredient that used to be part of the English breakfast. Over the centuries, this product has fallen out of use in the morning – we are talking about pineapple. Experts believe that in modern times, wealthy Englishmen added this fruit to their breakfast to emphasize the wealth and well-being of their home.

English breakfast lovers were offered a new addition to the traditional national morning meal of bacon, sausage, beans, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. Historians say it’s time to reintroduce the fruit, which grows far from Britain’s wet and windy climate, as a classic food item.

“Pineapples were once considered exotic, expensive, hard to come by and a highly prized breakfast ingredient in wealthy English families, which is why you can find many old English breakfast recipes using pineapples,” experts say.

Explorer Christopher Columbus is credited with first bringing pineapples to Europe after discovering them in Guadeloupe in 1493, and they quickly became a favorite dish of the Spanish royal court. The fruit also became a popular emblem in architecture as a sign of wealth and refined taste. Sir Christopher Wren placed pineapples on top of the towers of St Paul’s Cathedral in London in the late 17th century.

The Telegraph reports the English Breakfast Society is calling for fresh or tinned grilled pineapple to be substituted for mushrooms or tomatoes. In past centuries, according to scientists, the exotic fruit was considered an indicator of high status and refined taste.

The society’s founder, Guise Boulle de Missenden, insisted that pineapples had a long history on breakfast plates in England. He notes: “Interestingly, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, pineapple was considered a high-status breakfast item in Britain.”

According to The Telegraph, it’s believed that King Charles loved pineapples, so if you want to add a touch of the exotic to your plate and eat like a 17th-century lord, there’s no reason not to try this breakfast addition.

“A slice of grilled pineapple can add variety to an English breakfast dish. Simply swap mushrooms or tomato for a slice of pineapple in someone’s English breakfast one day to give them a surprising and unexpected delight,” admits Guise Boule de Missenden. His English Breakfast Society has previously irritated the nation’s purists on several occasions. Previously, the society called for abandoning potato pancakes for breakfast in favor of traditional dishes. The leader defended the move and pointed to the hash browns’ origins as a fast food popularized by McDonald’s.

He added: “Someone should have stood their ground. Otherwise we will soon find kebab in our English breakfast.”

The society’s calls were supported by nutritionist Juliet Kellow, who noted that canned fruit is just as nutritious as fresh.

“Canned pineapple in fruit juice is a great choice – just two rings count as one of our five daily servings,” explains the nutritionist.