Alma Café | Essence

"My grandmother would make pineapple hand-pies, she would take all the ingredients, mix them together and knead it by hand” 

In La Ceiba, around the time I was 6 to 8 years old, there was a company that transported fruits and vegetables. It was not only important to the city but it was part of our culture. This city, in the Atlantida neighborhood, trucks full of pineapples, grapefruits, oranges, and everything else they grew would pass through my neighborhood. Sometimes or about every two weeks, these products would “accidentally” fall off the truck and neighbors would be waiting ready for those huge boxes full of fresh delicious fruit to fall. One of those patiently waiting people in this neighborhood was my grandmother who was in charge of washing the fruits and vegetables. A fond memory is one where we would steal pieces of pineapple and eat them with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. 

Essence: Make an entity or substance what it 

fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. 

Pineapple pastries are traditional in Honduras. They are even sold in pulperias (small neighborhood stores). At Alma, we prepare them just as well as if it were done at home. As always, I give them the “Melissa” touch. The pastry is an empanada filled with pineapples, decorated with pistachios on top, vanilla ice cream, and infused with honey, lavender and lime juice. 

When you come to visit us, leave room for this delight and touch of essence.