Portugal’s most famous pastry is the pastel de nata (or pastéis de nata), an egg custard tart pastry with a flaky crust. The top looks almost like a crème brûlée and they are often served hot with powdered sugar and cinnamon. In Lisbon and Porto, it was tough to go more than a block or two without seeing these in a bakery storefront.
I didn’t want to just try a pastel de nata, I wanted to try the original: the pastéis de Belém. Pastéis de Belém is also the name of the bakery in the Portuguese city of Belém, where these special tarts are sold. Since this bakery is the only place because the recipe is still a secret, I along with my family made a point of trying a few pastels in Lisbon for a point of reference.
Some History:
Beginning in 1837, the bakery began making pastéis de Belém based on a recipe passed on from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (the Heironyite Monastery) after all convents and monasteries were shut down in 1834. To this day, this recipe has been kept confidential to everyone except the confectioners and has remained unchanged. So, pastéis de nata is essentially a knockoff version of the pastéis de Belém.
Getting There:
Getting to the bakery in Belém from Lisbon was incredibly easy. There are many ways to get there, but we were on a hop-on-hop of bus which brought us very close to the store with a short walk. Travel time from our hotel was about 15 mins, but if you are on a bus the time could vary depending on how many stops you make.
After We Got There:
We were told to be prepared to stand in a long line, but there was not much of a wait when we went on a Sunday in the early evening. The bakery has indoor seating and table service so we opted to sit down and relax. We ordered 4 Pastéis de Belém since the tarts are fairly small and we were four of us. On second thoughts we snagged another two just in case we wanted to eat more (there was no way we were getting back into the line for it).
Beginning in 1837, the bakery began making pastéis de Belém based on a recipe passed on from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (the Heironyite Monastery) after all convents and monasteries were shut down in 1834. To this day, this recipe has been kept confidential to everyone except the confectioners and has remained unchanged. So, pastéis de nata is essentially a knockoff version of the pastéis de Belém.
Taste Test Results:
Totally worth it for me. The pastéis de Belém are served warm with cinnamon and powdered sugar on the side. They are really balanced in consistency and flavor. The custard has a slightly firmer egg consistency that allows it to stay together and not spill over after a bite. The crust was perfectly flaky, but not so much so that it would get everywhere. Not all of my family is big dessert fan and I personally do not like things that are overly sweet, however, I must say I enjoyed these because there was a subtle hint of sweetness, but nothing overpowering.
Very few things in life are better than the original and these pastéis have survived over a century. Don’t get me wrong, throughout my time in Portugal, I got to eat many delicious, warm pastels de nata. However, there was definitely a difference: the hint of sweetness plus the crispiness.
One last thing to to keep in mind: don’t feel remorse after eating one of these delicious treats, because technically they can be be considered both historical and educational
