Pasteis de Belém
Imagine something delicious...It has a crunchy outer crust with a hint of salt from the butter in it, the filling is sweet but not too sweet, made out of egg custard. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on the top and eat it while it is still warm. Waiting until it is not fresh and has cooled down is not the same. Just buy it fresh from the oven and take a bite as soon as you can. I bet you will go and buy some more!
This is our dearest and most famous pastry. Go to a Portuguese living outside of Portugal and just say Pastel de nata or Pastel de Belém to them. They will get cravings immediately.
The history behind this beloved pastry began in the neighbourhood of Belém in Lisbon where you can find the famous monuments such as the Belém Tower (Torre de Belém), the Hieronymite Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) and the Monument of Discoveries (Monumento aos Descubrimentos).
This pastry has it's story attached to the Hieronymus monks at the Monastery. Since the liberals gained political power by the year 1820 they chose to close down all the religious orders in the country as well as the monasteries so the monks had to leave and find other occupations. One of them seems to have chosen to work for a bakery just around the corner by the year of 1837. The bakery had been there for a while since there was a sugar refinery situated wall to wall with it, the proximity to all the boats and their sugar cargo was helpful. Somehow the now unwillingly retired monk had to use his baking skills in order to survive in the outside world. Monasteries in Portugal are famous for their pastries and sweets, generally each one has their own specialty. It so happened that the Pastel de Belém was one of the hidden treasures of this particular monastery where the monk had learned the recipe and now transmitted it to the bakery where it still today is a secret recipe.
The Belém area became famous for tourists and city folks already in the 1800s so the pasteis soon had become a public favourite and are still to this day. Of course many have tried to copy or better the original recipe and heated arguments about who makes the best pasteis have arisen more than once. If they are made in another shop other than the original one then they are called Pasteis de Nata. Many of those are delicious as well, try one with a shot of espresso or bica as we call it in Lisbon. The best sign is if you see they are fresh out of the oven and the place should be specialising on them, not offering them as one of many different pastries lying on the counter. My favourites are the ones from the bakery in Belém, they somehow got the balance of the creaminess, sweetness, saltiness and crunchiness just right.
The history behind this beloved pastry began in the neighbourhood of Belém in Lisbon where you can find the famous monuments such as the Belém Tower (Torre de Belém), the Hieronymite Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) and the Monument of Discoveries (Monumento aos Descubrimentos).
This pastry has it's story attached to the Hieronymus monks at the Monastery. Since the liberals gained political power by the year 1820 they chose to close down all the religious orders in the country as well as the monasteries so the monks had to leave and find other occupations. One of them seems to have chosen to work for a bakery just around the corner by the year of 1837. The bakery had been there for a while since there was a sugar refinery situated wall to wall with it, the proximity to all the boats and their sugar cargo was helpful. Somehow the now unwillingly retired monk had to use his baking skills in order to survive in the outside world. Monasteries in Portugal are famous for their pastries and sweets, generally each one has their own specialty. It so happened that the Pastel de Belém was one of the hidden treasures of this particular monastery where the monk had learned the recipe and now transmitted it to the bakery where it still today is a secret recipe.
The Belém area became famous for tourists and city folks already in the 1800s so the pasteis soon had become a public favourite and are still to this day. Of course many have tried to copy or better the original recipe and heated arguments about who makes the best pasteis have arisen more than once. If they are made in another shop other than the original one then they are called Pasteis de Nata. Many of those are delicious as well, try one with a shot of espresso or bica as we call it in Lisbon. The best sign is if you see they are fresh out of the oven and the place should be specialising on them, not offering them as one of many different pastries lying on the counter. My favourites are the ones from the bakery in Belém, they somehow got the balance of the creaminess, sweetness, saltiness and crunchiness just right.
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