SINGAPORE – Pineapple tarts and Nonya kueh might not exist if not for the Spanish galleon trade routes of the 17th century.

Pineapples, as well as the cassava root and its derivative, tapioca flour, were carried to South-east Asia, along with such other foodstuffs as chocolate and chilli, thanks to the Spanish ships that plied the long, dangerous sea route across the Pacific Ocean from Mexico’s Acapulco to Manila in the Philippines.