April 2012
Pastéis de nata
Pastéis de nata were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in the civil parish of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, in Lisbon. At the time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching clothes, such as friars and nuns' religious habits. It was quite common for monasteries and convents to use the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries, resulting in the proliferation of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country.
(Wikipedia)
Adrian FVdR insisted that we have the Portuguese egg tarts at a very "original" place that was not too far from his flat in Notting Hill. I followed him dutifully and we arrived at an underwhelming in appearance, but busy, bakery. The outside did not impress me, but given how many people were going in and out - it was clearly popular. Inside, we were immediately propelled into Lisbon's old city. Everyone was speaking Portuguese, sitting around small tables, and enjoying a little oasis right out of that blue tiled city - in Central London. Mostly the bakery was doing a very brisk take away service. We ordered and shortly were sitting down to pasteis with coffee.
I was an instant fan. I had tried them before, but only outside of Portugal, so although I liked them, they were never "wow" for me. These were just as good as the original (which I would try a few years later). I assumed, given that everyone consuming them voraciously in the cafe was Portuguese, the taste must have been close to original. We were not in Caffe Nero or Costa. The place was not for hanging out and surfing WiFi with friends - we felt more like interlopers, "foreigners" in that little Portuguese enclave. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the experience immensely and I often begged Adrian for return visits on subsequent trips to London.
What was even more amazing was discovering that one of my favorite European monasteries, just outside of Lisbon, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, had invented them! [see: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Belém] Not only was that building one of the most beautiful I had seen on the Continent, but its monks had created one of my favorite Portuguese snacks. I remember walking the streets of Lisbon (where they seemed to be on sale everywhere) thinking "oh just one more won't kill me". I have no idea how many I ate on that visit, but I enjoyed every-single-one!
London, a great city of immigrants like New York, is definitely a place to find "original" food. Portuguese egg tarts are available there and they taste pretty damn close to the ones in Lisbon!