Sweet, sweet Portuguese egg tarts... where do I start?
If you couldn't immediately guess the correlation between the title of this blog and the opening line (we have a bigger issue), but yes, pasteis de nata are those delectable, pale yellow treats in a cup and they do indeed deserve a whole blog post.
If you're an avid Great British Baking Show viewer (looking at you pops!) or better yet have been fortunate enough to visit Portugal yourself, there's a fair shot you've heard of them. The name literally translates to "cream pastries," but these delicacies are so much more than that. Perfected over the last 300 years by monks in Belem's Jerónimos Monastery, if there's one thing the Portuguese do well––it's custard tarts. From their crisped and blackened tops to their gently set, piping hot centers, to their endless flaky layers of outer shell... it's simply a rite of passage to try one (or a dozen, I don't judge) of these little guys.
While sold at practically every café, bakery, restaurant, and souvenir shop (they even sell them inside metro stations), I suggest holding out on your Portuguese dessert cravings for the mighty few who do them best. Personally, I found that my favorite place to fork over a euro for one in Lisbon was Fábrica da Nata. Whether convenient or dangerous, this tiny venue was located a mere five minute's uphill walk from our hostel, which is perfect because an uphill walk probably cancels a few out right?
That particular bakery only sells pasteis de nata via a long pastry bar made for quickly eating them shouldered up against other patrons––perhaps alongside a shot of ginjinha, a traditional Portuguese sour cherry liqueur. You can actually watch them being made as well, but the lengthy queue stretching outside the building and often around the block spurred me to buy mine and eat it in peace outside.
Doused with a little powdered sugar and cinnamon, I plopped my very first one (fresh from the oven mind you) into my mouth not knowing what to expect. I was immediately hooked. As my teeth crunched through layer after layer of pastry shell and sank into the warm, soft runny custard, everything felt euphoric. Hairs raised, chakras aligned, stars exploded––okay maybe that's a little dramatic, but I truly believe there was a Helen before she tried pasteis de nata and a Helen thereafter, and I think you'll all find that this newly enlightened connoisseur of European sweets is happier, kinder, and overall better than the first version.
Pasteis de nata are some of those things that you really wanna learn how to make yourself to bring home a little of your travels with you, yet simultaneously know you could never recreate such perfection and would rather leave it to the masters. So with that, I'll leave my taste buds' memories and a bottomless pit of yearning for these Portuguese sweets (plus my love of course) in Lisbon.
Comentarios