Pastéis de Nata

The story

Pastéis de nata are small tarts of crisp, layered pastry filled with an egg-yolk custard and baked hot enough to scorch the top in dark spots. Their story starts in Belém, on the Lisbon waterfront, at the Jerónimos Monastery, which King Manuel I gave to the Hieronymite monks; building began in 1501, and UNESCO listed the monastery as a World Heritage Site in 1983. In the early nineteenth century a cane-sugar refinery with a small shop stood beside the monastery. After the Liberal Revolution of 1820, Portugal closed all its convents and monasteries in 1834 and expelled the clergy and their workers, and someone from Jerónimos began selling pastries in the refinery's shop to get by. In 1837 the refinery's owners started baking Pastéis de Belém in buildings next to it, and their descendants still run the business. The convent recipe is known only to the master bakers who work in the Oficina do Segredo, the secret workshop, and the shop sells more than 20,000 tarts a day. In 2011 the tart was named one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Gastronomy. Portugal celebrates Dia dos Namorados on February 14 with red roses, chocolates and restaurant tables that book up fast. Bake the tarts while dinner is cleared and serve them warm with cinnamon, powdered sugar and espresso.