An island is topped with pineapple smoothies, pineapple burgers and pineapple cake

The key to eating lots of fruit is variety, Mr. Hsueh said. “You’ll get bored if you keep eating pineapple every day.”

It’s not just an act of culinary bravery. Nowadays, the consumption of pineapple is seen as an act of patriotism. Taiwanese people have been swallowing the fruit since China – by far the island’s largest foreign buyer – banned pineapple imports on March 1, citing dangerous pests detected in recent shipments.

The Taiwanese government – a democratically governed island, which Beijing considers part of China – has denied any infestation, saying 99.79% of its pineapple imported into China last year passed inspection. Instead, he challenged the island’s 24 million citizens, as well as his overseas friends, to break the “pineapple of freedom” as a form of protest and said he would support pineapple prices. The voracious answer now raises questions as to whether there is too much fruit.

In the three days after China announced the ban, according to Taiwanese government figures, consumers ordered more than 41,000 metric tons of homemade pineapple – almost equal to all Taiwanese pineapple exports to China last year.

“We want to tell China, ‘We are not afraid of you,'” said Yang Yu-fan, a 34-year-old fruit farmer from southern Taiwan who is widely known by his nickname, the Pineapple Prince.

Last Thursday, 51-year-old Huang Shiu-ru lined up at a Taipei bakery on Thursday to buy some pineapple cakes. The cakes are the most famous pineapple product in Taiwan and taste like short bread with filling.

“I saw the news on TV and I happened to pass by this store,” she said. “Taiwan should not rely on China.”

However, despite their name, most pineapple cakes contain only small amounts of fruit, or none at all. The filling is often mostly wax gourd.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen started the culinary madness by taking on the role of chief promoter of pineapple.

“Of all the pineapple products, I like the pineapple ice the best,” Ms. Tsai wrote Wednesday in an Instagram post showing her talking on a pineapple-flanked podium. “And you?”

Her post included a pineapple emoji. Followers responded with several emojis, including the Taiwanese flag, and responded with their favorites, from grated pineapple ice to chicken soup with melon and pineapple.

According to Taiwanese government figures, China recently accounted for more than 90% of Taiwan’s pineapple exports. The Taiwanese Bureau of Chinese Affairs said in a statement last week that the export ban is a “normal measure to protect biosecurity” and rebuked the Taiwanese ruling party for using the fruit “to pollute and attack China.” .

Recent incursions of Chinese military aircraft near Taiwan have also prompted the US to issue a statement calling on China to end intimidation.

The Taiwan Business Bureau and the Chinese Ministries of Commerce and Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for additional comments.

Taipei Burger Ray Restaurant has been going through three or four pineapples a day lately. It offers free caramelized pineapples on its burgers, including a creation signed with truffles and foie gras. Sourness and acidity help balance the richness of duck liver, said co-owner Ray Yen.

Francesco Cipullo, an Italian chef from Chiayi County who is married to a Taiwanese woman, decided to make a Hawaiian-style pizza with ham, mozzarella and Taiwanese pineapple. He forced himself to take a bite. The fruit and cheese combo would be considered a sin in his hometown of Naples, he said.

“I had to do it for the love of Taiwan,” he said. “But, of course, I wouldn’t try.”

Nutritionist Yang Sz-han warned about the potential effects of heavy pineapple consumption on public health. Although they are rich in vitamin C and rich in bromelain, which can help digestion, she advised not to eat more than a tenth of a normal-sized pineapple in one sitting. Potassium levels in fruits could be dangerous for people with kidney problems, she warned, and are high in sugar.

“A whole pineapple contains about 1,000 calories,” she said, warning patriotic consumers to “pay attention to weight issues.”

Because the word “pineapple” in a local dialect is a homonym for prosperity, it is believed that fruit consumption brings many new businesses. This can be considered an ominous notion for firefighters, medical workers and others for whom being busy means that something bad has happened.

Yu Hui-ru, a 48-year-old nurse from Taipei, said she found herself hit by work after a recent weekend when she stopped by a pineapple farm, sipped pineapple ice tea and bought pineapple cakes. After that, she said, she did not dare touch the uneaten cakes – although she still intends to order a crate of pineapple and give it to the patients.

Taiwan’s agriculture minister Chen Chi-chung has dismissed superstitions, citing a four-year study published in the Taiwan Medical Journal, which found that pineapple-eating doctors have a similar number of emergency patients as a group. control -doctors who eat pineapple.

Mr. Chen said that embracing the island with the “pineapple of freedom” and buying abroad keep prices roughly stable, although he said there is a risk that pineapple mania will cannibalize demand for Taiwan’s more than two dozen other fruits.

“If you eat pineapple, will you eat less mangoes?” he asked.

The Pineapple Prince, Mr Yang, is happy to see support for his fellow farmers, but said it was unfortunate that the ban came when it came about. The pineapple season really begins in mid-March, he said, and he worries that some farmers choose them too early to meet demand.

“This is not the time to save pineapple !!” he wrote on a widely circulated Facebook post. He urged people to slow down their pineapple purchase for a few weeks. Although until then, he fears, the island could have been full of fruit.

Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected] and Chao Deng at [email protected]