Jamoncillo De Piña

This recipe hails from the 1884 manuscript notebook of Guadalupe Perez in Acatzingo, Puebla, Mexico—a region rich in both sugarcane and tropical fruits. The notebook reflects the home cooking of a fairly well-to-do nineteenth-century Mexican household, with recipes blending local fruits and European confectionery traditions. Jamoncillo typically refers to a milk fudge popular in Mexican confectionery; here, the twist is the inclusion of pineapple, an ingredient abundant in the region, making this an early fusion dessert celebrating both local produce and established sweet-making methods. The recipe expresses a flexibility with measurements and technique, typical of the handwritten recipes that circulated in Mexican kitchens at the time, and it provides a rare glimpse at the ingenuity of home cooks in 19th-century Puebla.

In 1884, the pineapple would have been crushed using a stone metate or wooden mortar and pestle. The cooking itself took place over a wood- or charcoal-fired stove in a heavy copper or clay cazuela, stirred with a sturdy wooden spoon. Sugar would be measured on a household scale, with milk added from a local cow or market. The final fudge-like mixture cooled and set in a wooden or tin box, lined with thin edible wafer paper (obleas) to prevent sticking—a classic touch for Mexican confections.