ArticleLisbon, Lisboa, Portugal5 min read
The Lisbon Custard Tart Trail
Where to eat pastéis de nata, and how to tell a good one
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5.01 review
Blistered tops, shattering pastry and a just-set custard: a short field guide to Lisbon's favourite pastry.
A monastery recipe that conquered a country
The pastel de nata began behind the walls of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, where monks used leftover egg yolks (the whites starched the habits) to make custard. When the religious orders were dissolved in the 1830s, the recipe was sold to a sugar refinery next door, and the bakery that opened there in 1837 still sells tens of thousands of tarts a day.
Today every Lisbon café has its own version, and they are not all equal. A great nata has pastry that shatters rather than bends, laminated so thinly you can count the layers on the side. The custard should be just set, wobbling slightly in the middle, and the top should be blistered and spotted almost black from a very hot oven. If it is pale and uniform, it was baked too cool or too long ago.
Eat it warm, standing at the counter with a bica (a short espresso). Shake over cinnamon and icing sugar from the shakers on the bar if you like; locals are split. And never buy a box to eat tomorrow: a nata has a life of a few hours.
Straight from the oven
How to judge a nata
- Pastry that cracks loudly when you bite it
- Custard that is set at the edge and soft in the centre
- Dark, caramelised blisters across the top
- Still warm: ask when the next tray comes out
- Under two euros at a neighbourhood pastelaria
One for now, one for the walk. Nobody in Lisbon orders just one.A pastelaria owner in Graça
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Emma EditorAuthor
Demo Travel AgencyPublisher
Reviews
Write a reviewAverage rating 5.0 out of 5
1 review- ENEmily Nguyen5 out of 5 stars3 Oct
Exactly the kind of guide I want: opinionated, practical and honest about what to skip. Both places we booked from it were highlights.
Comments
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- Ana Popescu
We did this last month and the timings were spot on. Thank you for the tip about going early.
- Sophie Laurent
How much cash should we bring? Some of the smaller places only seem to take cards.
- Oliver Bennett
Your packing list saved us. It got cold much faster than we expected after sunset.
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