Photography by Matyen

During a Chinese New Year, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and bakeries in China and other Southeast Asian countries are abuzz with the fragrance of pineapple tarts emanating from homes and bakeries. These little sized pastries with its crisp, crumbly pastry and sweet and gooey pineapple jam filling have become synonymous with the holiday a.k.a. Lunar New Year. 

According to their seeming manifestation, they can be easily mistaken for mere, delicious gourmet – yummy mouthfuls of pastry and fruit. Of course, one may think that pineapple tarts do not have anything to do with the spirit of this propitious holiday, and it would seem that they are absolutely right.

Origins Steeped in Tradition

Various types of pineapple tarts are now existing however, they believed to have come from the southern Chinese. Pineapple jam filling buns made with a crumbly shortcrust pastry shell were originally consumed in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This then brought them to other Chinese enclaves in other areas and to some of the South East Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.

The pineapple is culturally symbolic – they are the stars, as it were, of the visual landscape. It has traditionally been considered a symbol of good luck and fortune because of the fruit’s yellow skin and pointed crown-like structure. Pineapples were considered as luxury item and accessible only to the rich in China before it became a mainstay crop in the tropics. Presenting a decorated pineapple or pineapple sweets was a method of recommending themselves for a prosperous New Year for friends and dear ones. 

That is why making and sharing pineapple tarts is also a tradition. Still, it is the wives and mothers in home kitchens in China who prepare these pastries well before the New Year to share with friends, family and business associates. This time-consuming process of preparing the pineapple jam filling and baking tray after tray reveals care, appreciation, and blessings to the recipient. In comparison to the cookies or candies, that are bought in stores, those tarts are perceived as very much more personal.

A Sign of New Beginnings

Pineapple tarts in Chinese New Year are linked with fresh beginnings, similar to what feng shui advocates. Pineapples are interpreted to mean new beginnings – , the flowers are said to be ”sprouting” from the fruit’s ”head” and the fruit itself radiates the sun’s light and power of giving out its Heat. That’s why spring signals the beginning of a new agricultural cycle and the potential for a productive year.

Likewise, pineapple tarts are prepared at the end of the year or when there is reunion – festive season when people look forward to the next year. Their filling of pineapple jam which is golden in color, encased in a pastry that is looking like ingots for wealth, prosperity and everything good in life. This is because people associate sweetness with expectation of a pleasant year especially in the home and families of the candidates on the ballot. The well-wishes form two other commonly used happy ever after phrases like blessings [kah soh] and good fortune [hoong hee] have also been imprinted into many home baked tarts.

Making Excuses to Protect Bonds overSweet Fruits  

In fact pineapple tarts are even more than just a pretty surface and a thoughtful gift – they make social relations and mutual understanding more intense when shared. Whether it’s soft and flaky Hong Kong-style shortcrusts for pineapple tarts or delicate and tender Malaysian pinneal pineapple tarts, they are made for bite-sized and was created to spread happiness around. 

It said that when receiving September September Guests during the Chinese New Year house visits, pineapple tarts are among the gifts and staples served like love letters or almond cookies when guests visit. It’s not only friends and families but everyone who enjoys this sweet familiarity of a taste that reminds them of the New Years of the past even as they make those of the future. While I’m sure that anyone who has been fortunate enough to taste such a delicious pineapple cube pastry has surely enjoyed the slick stickiness and crispiness of it all, I do believe that part of the thrill of such a treat is the shared laughter, conversation and simple good wishes for the coming year.

Similar Basic Practices But In Different Kontakt. 

Like any other language and culture that change among the Chinese communities all across the world, pineapple tarts have also differ in each place with regards to its recipe. Some locations added their twist to it while keeping the Hawaii pineapple jam filing energy people know and love so much.

In Hong Kong, for instance, the prodigious styles are crumbly shortcrust. Uniform sticks of cold butter are cubed and then incorporated into the flour before a dry mixture resembling sand is formed by rubbing it with the hands. They then chill it completely and then press little portions of dough into the mini tart cups and then topping each with a pineapple or cherry jam crown. They dissolve in the mouth at first bite and they left for me an impression similar to that of eating a buttery pineapple jam cookie. It took me a lot of time to prepare them but the buttery flavor comes out.

Malaysian versions replace lard with butter in the recipe to form a crisp, tender crust that is similar to the mille crepe cake. It has attainable, elegant appeal through the pineapple jam cube placed in the center of the pastry then the second layer is formed from another layer of pastry that is shaped to completely encompass the cube of jam. Which the intense buttery layer of pastry against the sweet and stickiness of the jam is so desired. While they are as time-consuming to shape by hand they produce rather adorable confection.

Singaporean tarts occupy an intermediate position – they have a crunch, but their base is easily melted in the mouth. Fresh pineapple diced into minute pieces makes a spectacular garnish to a delicious pineapple jam with accompanying fragrant yellow hue. Traditional lucky emblems are etched onto the tarts, making the tarts so delicate that almost everyone would feel a little guilty to take a bite off it…almost! But subtle hints of coconut oil that provide a local flavor to the pastries are incredible too.

A Changing Tradition

Like most practices, pineapple tarts have also gone through some mechanisms of change over certain periods of time in their processing. Globalization, and change in the family structure result in more individuals purchasing the ready-made products rather than preparing the items from scratch. Luxury bakeries today use such things as French butter while supermarkets employ vegetable oil in blends cutting costs though not quality. Getting more contemporary then the old style plum blossoms, digraphs to cute pigs away from the ingot.

However, so long as the central components persist – that rough, buttery cookie hull with its gooey glazed pineapple interior – these tarts will go on making people happy and embodying the straw goryeo essence of Lunar New Year. Every taste takes the consumers back to previous Chinese New Year celebrations and strengthens connections among old and new friends. So celebrate the next occasion with pineapple tarts for me and may the spirit of this legandary delicasye bring you all together in joy as you welcome another year of hope.