Pineapple

Among favorite desserts of the decade were waffles, served with ice cream and syrup, as well as this easy cake's ancestor. The treat reached its maximum popularity with the increasing availability of canned pineapple and the marketing efforts of the Dole Company. Today's widely available fresh fruit-spiked with ginger, macadamia nuts and orange zest-gives a great result.

We found this recipe in Austin Leslie's cookbook. It is from his mother, Ruby — she was Aunt Helen's sister and assisted her at Chez Helene and its predecessor, Howard's Eatery. Although Leslie served the bread pudding with a rum hard sauce, we prefer it with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 50 min

A gift from Native American cooks, hominy is dried, hulled corn kernels. Sold rehydrated in cans, it also makes a great addition to soups, stews, and casseroles.

The word chutney comes from the Hindustani chatni, which means "strong spices." The sweet juiciness of golden pineapples — much more intensely flavored than ordinary pineapples — balances the spices with the lusciousness that only tropical foods possess. But you can substitute regular pineapple if you cannot find the golden variety, and the chutney will still be complementary. Serve it with Jerked Pork Chops or any grilled meat.

We don't recommend doubling the sauce ingredients if you're cooking for more than two people — the sauce will lose its intensity. Instead, you may want to make two batches. Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

The best smoothies are made with very ripe fruit. Mango, pineapple and banana team up with light coconut milk in this one.

Pineapples are grown all over Thailand and are commonly eaten freshly sliced at the end of a meal. We wanted a worthy finish to this complex meal, so we decided to put a slightly different spin on this classic ingredient. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 17 3/4 hr (includes chilling and freezing)

Bottled vinaigrette adds a tangy twist to the chicken. This stylish dish goes well with couscous. Molasses cookies and vanilla ice cream sprinkled with chopped crystallized ginger would be a lovely finish.

A mildly sweet and pungent dish. No soy sauce is used in the sauce, so it is lighter in color than other sweet and pungent dishes.

For this recipe, use a fully cooked bone-in ham that has the natural shape of the leg, and has some fat and rind still attached. Do not substitute a “re-formed” oval canned ham or a deli ham. Serve a malty ale or French Gew‼rztraminer with the ham, and offer the Strawberry Basket Cake for dessert.

Our spin on the beloved classic, featuring pineapple jam and cream cheese frosting.

Tender cake houses jammy sour cherries and chunks of sweet pineapple in this cobbler meets upside down cake hybrid.

Whether your produce is peak-season or just so-so, this smart recipe will make it shine.

Summer means spicy, savory fruit salads made with whatever fresh produce you’ve got, plus lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, dried shrimp, and lots of red chiles.

If you’ve only been making coladas with rum, you’re missing out. Swap out the liquor for lighter, more delicate sherry for a new take on the classic cocktail.

Fast-cooking chicken thighs and convenient canned chipotle chiles come together for this streamlined version of traditional al pastor.

Also called pineapple buns, this recipe for bolo bao makes a delectable version of the Hong Kong pastry, with a crispy cookie topping and fluffy interior.

Store-bought Jamaican jerk seasoning paste serves as a marinade for juicy grilled shrimp in this simple summer dinner with minimal prep time.