Pineapple tart is a small, bite-size tart filled or topped with

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

jam, commonly found throughout different parts of Southeast Asia such as

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(''kue nastar''),

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

(

Baba Malay In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south Ea ...

: ''kueh tae'' or ''kuih tair'',

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

: ''kuih tat nanas''; Jawi: ),

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in various forms. The pineapple tart may have been invented in the 16th century. This is around the time the pineapple, a fruit native to South America, was introduced to Asia and the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

by Portuguese merchants.

General description

The pastry consists of a large proportion of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

and

egg yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...

, and some

corn starch Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the seed, kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thick ...

, giving it a rich, buttery, tender and melt-in-the-mouth texture. The pineapple jam is usually made through a slow reduction of grated fresh pineapple that is caramelized with a mix of sugar and spices, usually

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

star anise ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...

and

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

s. Typical shapes include a flat, open tart topped with pineapple jam under a lattice of pastry, rolls filled with jam that are open at the ends, and jam-filled spheres or elongated shapes.

Regions

Indonesia

, it is called ''nastar'' which is contraction of ''nanas tart'' ('' Ananas'' or pineapple tart), is a popular cookie or '' kue kering'' during festive occasions of '' Lebaran'', '' Natal'' and '' Imlek''. Just like many of Indonesian '' kue kering'' (cookies), its origin comes from the Dutch influence on Indonesian pastry, cake and cookies tradition. Most ''nastar'' is made as a round shape with a diameter of about 2 cm. The pineapple jam is filled inside instead of spread on top.

Malaysia and Singapore

Considered a "festive cookie", pineapple tarts are especially popular during Hari Raya,

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

and

Deepavali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual ...

celebrations in Singapore and Malaysia. They are also sold all year round by commercial bakeries and souvenir stores serving tourists.

Taiwan

The Taiwanese version of pineapple tart is known as ''fènglísū'' (鳳梨酥). The filling is fully enclosed within a rectangular tart. Generally the taste is sweet due to sugar added. However, many bakers add or even substitute pineapple with

winter melon ''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is nat ...

to make the jam less tart as well giving a less fibrous texture to the filling.

Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

the term often refers to a variation on the

Neenish Tart A neenish tart (or neenish cake) is a tart made with a pastry base and a filling consisting of sweet gelatine-set cream, mock cream, icing sugar paste, or lemon and sweetened condensed milk mixture, with dried icing on the top of the tart in ...

, with pineapple jam below the filling, and

passionfruit ''Passiflora edulis'', commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to the region of southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its ...

icing.

References

{{Pineapples Tarts Indonesian cuisine Malaysian cuisine Singaporean cuisine Bruneian cuisine Holiday foods Kue Stuffed desserts Foods with jam