An island stuffed with pineapple smoothies, pineapple burgers and pineapple cake

The key to eating lots of fruit is variety, said 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 use of pineapples is seen as an act of patriotism. Taiwanese residents have been eating the fruit since China – by far the largest outside buyer on the island – banned the import of their pineapples from March 1, citing dangerous pests detected in recent shipments.

The Taiwanese government – an island that is democratically governed and considers Beijing part of China – has denied any contamination, saying 99.79% of its imported pineapples were inspected to China last year. Instead, it challenged the island’s 24 million citizens, as well as its overseas friends, to catch ‘freedom pineapples’ as a form of protest and said it would support the price of pineapples. The greedy reaction now raises questions about whether there is something too much fruit.

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

“We want to say to China: We are not afraid of you,” said Yang Yu-fan, a 34-year-old fruit farmer from southern Taiwan, popularly known by his nickname, the Prince of Pineapple.

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

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

Despite their name, however, most pineapple cakes contain only small amounts of fruit, or not at all. The filling is mostly wax pump.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen started the culinary fad by taking on a role as the main promoter of pineapple.

“Of all the pineapple products, I like pineapple dolls the best,” Ms Tsai wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday showing how she speaks from a scene flanked by pineapples. “What about you?”

Her post included a pineapple emoji. Followers responded with more emojis, including the Taiwanese flag, and answered with their favorites, from sliced ​​pineapple to chicken soup with bitter melon and pineapple.

According to Taiwanese government figures, China recently accounted for more than 90% of pineapple exports from Taiwan. The Chinese business office in Taiwan said in a statement last week that the export ban was a “normal precautionary measure for biosafety” and reprimanded Taiwan’s ruling party for using the fruit “to smear and attack China.”

Recent attacks by Chinese military aircraft near Taiwan have also prompted the US to issue a statement calling on China to cease intimidation.

The Taiwanese Business Office and China’s Ministries of Trade and Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for further comment.

The restaurant in Taipei, Burger Ray, has been going through three or four pineapples lately. It offers free caramelized pineapples on the burgers, including a distinctive creation with truffle and foie gras. Co-owner Ray Yen says the tenderness and acidity balance the richness of the duck liver.

Francesco Cipullo, an Italian chef in 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 bite. The fruit-and-cheese combination 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 will not try again.”

Nutritionist Yang Sz-han warned about the possible effects of excessive consumption of pineapple on public health. Although they are rich in vitamin C and high in bromelain, which can help with digestion, she advised against eating more than a tenth of a pineapple in a regular seat. Potassium levels in the fruit can be dangerous for people with kidney problems, she warned, and they have a high sugar content.

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

Because the word “pineapple” in one local dialect is a name for prosperity, many fruits are thought to be eaten. It can be considered an ominous idea for firefighters, medical workers and others they care about, meaning something bad has happened.

Yu Hui-ru, a 48-year-old nurse in Taipei, said she was struggling with work after a recent weekend when she stopped at a pineapple farm, drank a pineapple iced tea and bought pineapple cakes. After that, she said, she did not dare to touch the uneaten cakes – although she still intends to order a crate of pineapples and give them away to patients.

Taiwan’s Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung dismissed superstitions, citing a four-year study published in the Taiwan Medical Journal, finding that head-and-neck doctors who ate pineapple , has a similar number of emergency patients as a control group of pineapple-eating doctors.

Mr. Chen said embracing ‘freedom pineapples’ and overseas purchases kept prices roughly stable, though he said there was a risk that pineapple mania could drop demand for more than two dozen other fruits Taiwan produces.

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

The prince of pineapple, mr. Yang, rejoiced at the support of his fellow farmers, but said it was unfortunate that the ban had taken place. The pineapple season really starts in mid-March, he said, and he worries that some farmers are picking them up too early to meet demand.

“Right now, it’s really, really, really not the time to save the pineapples !!” he wrote on a widespread Facebook post. He urged people to rather delay their pineapple purchases for a few weeks. Although he then fears, the island may have borne fruit.

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