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The History of Pastel de Nata (Custard Tart)
Going back almost 200 years, the history of the Pastel de Nata (custard tart) is still based on tales and legends.
It's believed that the sweet treat, a registered and authentic make of Portugal, came to be in the 19th century. Having been created by the monks of the Jerónimos Monastery, located in Belém, currently a borough in Lisbon. At the time, it was common practice for egg whites to be used to crumple the nun's clothes, leaving the monks with leftover egg yolk. To use these gems, they started to bake cream pies and began selling them to raise funds for the monastery - since it was a time of need due as a result of the liberal revolution.
The famed and exclusive recipe was then sold to the Fåbrica de Pastéis
de Belém , near the monastery. Which is precisely how the iconic
sweetness got the name that it's best known for nowadays -
Pastel de Belém.
Its populararisation and dissemination was driven not only by the flow
of tourists, who, attracted by the Belém tower and by the Jerónimos
monastery itself, ended up trying it out and making it known, but also
the movement of boats that, at the time, connected that locality to
Lisbon.
Today, you can find different variations of the custard tart worldwide. But, if you're looking for the old school flavour that supported the monastery in its time of need and sent custard tarts worldwide, the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém (old Belém confectionary), can and will deliver!
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