Pasteis de Belém, also known as pasteis de nata, is a Portuguese crispy, flaky egg pastries served fresh from the oven and sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar. The most famous ‘Pasteis de Belém’ are the ones from the original factory, located in Belém, next to Jeronimos Monastery.
The recipe was invented by Catholic monks at the Jerónimos Monastery. Convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching clothes, and so the leftover egg yolks were used to make cakes.
The art of cooking these tasty pastries relies on traditional methods, where the dough is handmade, rolled very thin and folded neatly.
Following the end of the religious orders after the Liberal Revolution of 1820, the monks of the Jeronimos Monastery started selling their pastries at a nearby sugar refinery owned by Domingos Rafael Alves. In 1834 the monastery closed and the secret recipe was sold to the owners of the sugar refinery, who in 1837 opened the ‘Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém.’
The family owns the business to this day. Since then, locals and visitors have come to this factory to enjoy these delicacies. The bakery churns out whopping 14,000 pastries per day and you can take away these tarts in packs of 6 or choose to dine inside the bakery. Beware, there tend to be lengthy waiting lines.
You can eat custard tarts in many of the cafes in the area, but if you want to taste the original (and best), come to Belem.
