Pasteis de nata: These gorgeous treats are Portugal’s gift to the world

Portuguese tarts

If you only know one thing about Portugal, it’s probably the tarts.

You may have a vague sense of names such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Ferdinand Magellan; you might recall something about painted tiles and fortified wine. But you definitely know the tarts.

Pasteis de nata are Portugal’s gift to the world. Also known, imaginatively, as Portuguese tarts, these gorgeous treats have a crisp, buttery puff pastry base, and are filled with a sweet custard that’s usually flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla.

The tarts are baked at high temperature to achieve their slightly burnt tops, and are traditionally dusted with cinnamon and eaten still warm. There are few things in this world finer than a fresh pastel de nata (pasteis is the plural, pastel the singular) and a strong coffee.

The story of pasteis de nata is one of those fanciful tales that surely isn’t true, and yet, apparently, is.

Back in the 18th century, Portuguese nuns would use egg whites to starch their habits. That left them with plenty of spare yolks, which were in turn used to create all manner of yolk-heavy sweets.

At the famous Jeronimos Monastery in Belem, then just outside Lisbon, monks used those yolks to create a custard tart, which they sold to the public in the early 1800s to survive during the Liberal Revolution.

In 1834, when the monastery was closed, the custard tart recipe was sold to a nearby sugar refinery, which soon opened a shop called Fabrica de Pasteis de Belem. It’s still open today – and its original recipe remains a secret.

You have to go to the original, despite its touristy popularity: Pasteis de Belem, in Lisbon ().

Nata Portuguese Bakery stocks its “authentic tarts” at cafés and supermarkets across the country, including Park Hyatt Auckland, Matakana Coffee Roasters and Moore Wilson's Wellington. In Auckland, try custard tarts at Olaf’s (). In Christchurch, make your way to Fluffy Bake Shop on St Asaph Street ().

Pasteis de nata are closely linked to Portugal’s history of maritime exploration: the Jeronimos Monastery was built at the spot Vasco de Gama set off for his voyages; cinnamon was a commonly imported spice; and the tarts have been adopted and adapted everywhere from Macau to Japan to Brazil.

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