Gizzada

Ingredients

Pastry

• 250 gplain flour
• 125 gcold butter
• 1 tbspsugar
• ¼ tspsalt
• 60 mlice water
• 1 tspvinegar

Filling

• 300 gfresh coconut, coarsely grated
• 150 gbrown sugar
• 60 gbutter
• 120 mlwater
• 1 tspgrated nutmeg
• 1 tspground ginger
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Rub the cold butter into the flour, sugar and salt to coarse crumbs, bring it together with the ice water and vinegar, and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Grate the coconut on the large holes of the grater rather than finely.
3. Coarse grating is what gives gizzada its chew. Desiccated coconut or a fine grate turns the filling into a paste and loses the dish entirely.
4. Simmer the grated coconut with the brown sugar, water, butter, nutmeg, ginger and salt for 15 to 20 minutes, until the liquid has almost gone and the mixture holds together in the spoon.
5. Cook it until thick and just moist rather than wet. A loose filling soaks into the pastry and the tart goes soggy through the middle.
6. Stir in the vanilla and let it cool.
7. Roll the pastry thin and cut discs about 10 cm across.
8. Now the pinching. Turn up the edge of each disc and pinch it into pleats the whole way round between thumb and forefinger, making a fluted case about 1.5 cm deep.
9. That pleated rim is why it is nicknamed pinch-me-round, and it is the mark of a proper gizzada.
10. Set the cases on a tray and fill each with the coconut mixture, mounded slightly above the rim.
11. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the filling has darkened at the edges.
12. Cool them on a rack before eating, because the filling comes out of the oven molten.
13. It came to Jamaica with Portuguese Jewish settlers and kept both its pleated shape and its name.

Technique

• Fresh coconut, not desiccated. If you are forced to use desiccated, soak it in coconut milk first, though it will not be the same.
• Some bakers darken the filling further with extra brown sugar or a spoonful of molasses.
• They keep three or four days in a tin and are sold from bakeries and roadside stalls across the island.

Substitutions

• Shop-bought shortcrust, pressed into a tart tin if you would rather not pinch.
• Frozen grated coconut, which is closer to fresh than desiccated is.

Variations

• With a spoonful of dark rum in the filling.
• Darker and stickier, made with molasses.
• Baked as one large tart and cut into wedges.

History

Crimped tart of spiced grated coconut, brought by Portuguese Jewish settlers and nicknamed pinch-me-round for its pleated crust.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gizzada?

Gizzada is a dessert from Jamaica: pinch-crust tart filled with spiced grated coconut. Crimped tart of spiced grated coconut, brought by Portuguese Jewish settlers and nicknamed pinch-me-round for its pleated crust.

How long does Gizzada take to make?

Gizzada takes 40 min plus 30 min chilling of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 tarts. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gizzada?

Yes, within limits. Shop-bought shortcrust, pressed into a tart tin if you would rather not pinch. Frozen grated coconut, which is closer to fresh than desiccated is.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gizzada?

Grate the coconut on the large holes of the grater rather than finely.