Pasteis de Belem

Right. So apart from my Jin Shin Jyutsu class, these pasteis de Belem were the other reason I went to Lisbon.

They are the best in the world.

A brief history. The 1820 Liberal Revolution in Portugal led to the closure of all convents and monasteries. Some bright spark from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos thought of offering these little tarts to sell as a means of survival. They were sold at the small general store attached to a sugarcane refinery next to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. The delicious custard tarts soon gained a reputation and became known as pasteis de Belem. The recipe, a closely guarded secret, remains unchanged from 1837. They are called pasteis de nata everywhere else today (pastel if singular).

During my week in Lisbon I ate a lot of pasteis. How could I not? They were all good. Some were very good. But the pasteis de Belem - well, they were sublime. So good were they that on our last night we had to go back to the Antiga Confeitaria de Belem for one last hurrah.

The waiter brings them to the table still warm. You give them a brief benediction of cinnamon powder and icing sugar and close your eyes in praise as the crisp pastry shatters on your tongue and surrenders its cargo of custard bliss. Pure heaven at 90 cents a pop. Your next thought - mine anyway - is, "How can I have just the one? I'm leaving tomorrow so I'm going to order 2 more." And so you waddle out into the night, cross-eyed with pasteis ecstasy, filled with equal parts disgust at your greediness and regret that you couldn't manage another.

Aw, go on, have one.

Antiga Confeitaria de Belem
84 - 92, Rua de Belem
1300-085 Lisbon

T: (+351) 21 - 363 7423
open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily


~ a backblip