Egg Tart

Where History Connects



The EGG TART being sold in the early 20th century in Guangzhou (Canton), Guangdong province, inspired by the European custard tarts. Guangzhou's status as the only port accessible to European foreign traders led to the development of Cantonese cuisine having many outside influences. As Guangzhou's economy grew from trade and interaction with European powers, pastry chefs at the Western-style department stores in the city were “pressured to come up with new and exciting items to attract customers”. So egg tart varieties, inspired by those from Europe, featuring a lard-based puff pastry crust and a filling similar to steamed egg pudding, were then created by department stores and appeared as a "Weekly Special".Nowadays, there are two main varieties of egg tart in China. The one that appeared around 1927 in Guangzhou's Zhen Guang Restaurant is close to the egg tarts popular in Guangzhou and Hong Kong today. The other variety is from Macau and is a Macanese take on the pastel de nata, as Macau was then a Portuguese colony.