Pineapple cake
Pineapple cake (Chinese: 鳳梨酥; pinyin: fènɡ lí sū; Taiwanese Hokkien: 王梨酥 ông-lâi-so͘) is a sweet traditional Taiwanese pastry containing butter, flour, egg, sugar, and pineapple jam or slices.
History
Pineapple became a critical component of Taiwan’s economy during the Japanese era, during which Japanese industrialists imported a wide variety of pineapple cultivars and established numerous processing plants. By the late 1930s, Taiwan had become the third-largest exporter of pineapples in the world. However, when pineapple production in Taiwan shifted toward domestic sales and use of fresh pineapple, local bakeries sought to use this surplus in pastries. While pineapple cakes had historically been produced as a ceremonial food, a combination of governmental promotion and globalization popularized the pineapple cake. Pineapple cakes have become one of the top-selling souvenirs in Taiwan.
