Discovering Terengganu’s little-known jackfruit tarts
31 Oct 2022 08:52am
Image for illustrative purposes only - sinar archive
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Not many people may have come across jackfruit tarts or tasted them. Another little-known fact is these tarts are considered a traditional delicacy in Terengganu where, in the olden days, they were specially made for the royal household to partake of.
Kuala Terengganu housewife turned entrepreneur Tengku Noor Mahirah Tengku Munawir, 32, whose family has been making and selling jackfruit tarts for five generations since the 1950s, is intent on not only keeping the family tradition alive but also popularising the pastry.
She told Bernama she decided to team up with her mother Tengku Noor Anita Tengku Abdullah in running the family-owned Tart Nangka Padang Maziah enterprise after she realised few people knew of the jackfruit tart’s unique and appealing taste.
"I chose to join the business as I wanted to continue the family tradition and also because jackfruit tarts are rarely found in the market.
"Most people are familiar with pineapple tarts but many don’t know what a jackfruit tart tastes like... it looks like a biscuit but tastes like cake or bahulu,” she said, adding that her jackfruit tarts have been well-received by her customers.
Tengku Noor Mahirah participated in the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro Tourism Exhibition (Maha 2022) in August in Serdang, Selangor, where she promoted and sold her jackfruit tarts.
According to Tengku Noor Mahirah, her family’s jackfruit tarts are made based on a recipe that had been handed down from generation to generation since 1916.
The family has made every effort to ensure the tarts are made the traditional way, that is, handmade, with the top crusts featuring their own unique designs.
"We use the same recipe that was used by our ancestors who made and served the jackfruit tarts to royalty.
"Those days, these tarts were only eaten by the aristocracy during palace functions but as the years passed, they were also made available to the commoners,” she said.
Tengku Noor Mahirah said her family members who founded Tart Nangka Padang Maziah during the 1950s originally made the tarts at their home facing Istana Maziah at Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampung Panglima, Kuala Terengganu.
In 2007, however, her mother decided to expand the business by opening a shop in Batu Buruk, Kuala Terengganu, to make it easier for their customers to buy the tarts.
The specialty of the jackfruit tart is, of course, its filling which is made by grinding the ripened jackfruit in a blender until it attains a smooth consistency. The mixture is then cooked slowly in a large wok over a medium fire for four hours daily over two or three days.
Tengku Noor Mahirah, who won the third prize in the One District, One Industry programme organised by the Prime Minister’s Department’s Implementation Coordination Unit in Kuala Terengganu in 2010, said she needs about 50 kilogrammes of peeled jackfruit a week for her tarts and gets her supply from local suppliers in Kuala Terengganu.
Her tarts are sold in packs, each with 13 pieces and priced at RM10, or in plastic jars each with 33 pieces and priced at RM25. She also makes nine-inch to 12-inch (22.9 to 30.5 centimetres wide) decorative jackfruit tarts costing between RM35 and RM60 each.
The mother-of-one, who actively promotes her tarts on her Facebook account, said most of her customers are from Terengganu, adding that she also receives orders "from the palace”.
Her busiest periods are just before Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Aidiladha when she rings up sales of up to RM10,000.
"As for my future plans, I’ve set my sights on overseas markets... I want to take the jackfruit tarts, which are a symbol of the state of Terengganu, to the international arena,” she said, adding that in Terengganu currently, only three entrepreneurs, including her, are involved in the jackfruit tart business. - BERNAMA
