Home › Beverages › Pineapple Juice
Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice Crushed ice Sugar Pour the pineapple juice over crushed ice, and serve very cold.
A two-line drink from an era when pineapple juice was a treat rather than a staple. The gaps in the instructions are the interesting part.
- The sugar is optional and unexplainedSugar appears in the ingredient list but never in the method. Canned pineapple of the period was often packed in water or a light syrup and could be sharply acidic; taste first and sweeten only if the juice needs it. Modern shelf-stable pineapple juice is usually sweet enough on its own.
- Where the juice came fromThe recipe does not say, but at this date it most likely meant the liquid drained from a can of sliced or grated pineapple, saved rather than bought. A cook following it today can use bottled juice, or press fresh fruit for something noticeably brighter and more astringent.
- Crushed ice, not cubesThe point of crushed ice is fast chilling and dilution, which softens the acidity. Cubes will leave the drink sharper and warmer. Crush by pulsing in a blender or wrapping cubes in a towel and hitting them with a rolling pin.
- YieldHalf a cup of juice makes one small glass. For a modern serving, count on 3/4 to 1 cup of juice per person and scale the ice accordingly.
- If you use fresh pineappleRaw pineapple contains bromelain, which breaks down protein. Fresh juice will curdle milk or cream and will not set gelatin, so keep it as a plain iced drink unless the juice has been heated.
- ServingA sprig of mint, a squeeze of lemon, or a splash of soda water all sit comfortably within the spirit of the original without changing what it is.
Meatless cookbooks proliferated in the United States around the First World War, when federal food conservation campaigns urged households to observe meatless days and stretch supplies for export to the Allies. Such books carry vegetable dishes, egg and cheese cookery, and long beverage sections like this one. Pineapple juice itself was a by-product of the Hawaiian canning industry, which expanded rapidly in the first decades of the twentieth century; for years the liquid drained off during canning was of little commercial value, and cooks were encouraged not to waste it. Canned pineapple juice was marketed as a product in its own right only later, which may be why a recipe of this date assumes you already have the juice on hand rather than telling you to buy a tin of it.