18-08-2014
Pastéis de nata, craveable tartlets with cream (here in Nata Lisboa’s version), are one the most famous delicious product of Portugal’s docaria conventual, which is rooted in the centuries and the beautiful monasteries in the country, charming on the basis of two ingredients, rarely little more than that, that is to say egg yolks and sugar
No, it is not the most precious legacy of the Portuguese grandeur, of that 16th century when Lisbon was a world capital. It is, however, sweeter: docaria conventual, monastery pastry, starts after the colonization of Madeira, where sugar canes were already cultivated (previously, honey was used as a sweetener): the cakes that they began to prepare in monasteries are indeed mostly made of eggs and sugar. Egg yolks and more egg yolks, some times only those, some others just a few extra ingredients, on top of the açúcar: almonds, cinnamon, citrus zest... The skilful hands of the nuns first created and then transmitted these cookies and puddings that are different from those we are used to, sweeter but with a magical balance, a personality that makes them elegant, despite their imposing aroma.
Gourmet travellers will be able to appreciate many things in Portugal: and these cakes are likely to be among the first ones. We’re thinking of pastéis de nata, the most famous ones: these tartlets are based on a recipe that was not transmitted for almost 200 years and was known – it is said – by three people only; the friable pastry, the cream made with egg yolks, milk and sugar. The Belém version, sold in the homonymous pastelaria in front of the Tower and born in the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, is a celebrated one. Tasting pastéis there – they say they pull 20,000 out of the ovens each day – is twice sublime, but it is also good in the Nata Lisboa version, a chain with 14 shops in Portugal, plus three more in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. Do not turn up your noses: their version is valuable too (we tasted it in Rua de Stª Catarina, a chic street in Porto).
The counter at Pastelaria Conventual Pão de Rala in Évora, a place to note down: here people come especially to taste the cake the establishment is named after, a cake filled with pumpkin fibre, cooked in a concentrated sugar syrup
The cakes at Casa dos Doces Conventuais in Alcobaça are extraordinary: in this city, every year they hold the Mostra Internacional de Doces & Licores Conventuais
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief