The true story of the Pasteis de nata

Pastéis de nata are pastries find their origin in the Catholic Church, who would have known that? The recipe is called Pastéis de Belém, and was already made before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Monestry of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, in Lisbon.

Because of their starching clothing in those days, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for the religious habits. SO what were they supposed to do with all the egg yolks?

It was quite common for monasteries in Portugal to use the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries, resulting in the proliferation of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country even till this day.

With the dissolution of religious orders and closure of monasteries as the result of the 1820 Revolution, the monks started selling pastéis de nata at a nearby sugar refinery to bring in revenue. In 1834, the monastery was closed and the recipe sold to the sugar refinery, whose owners in 1837 opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. The descendants still own the business to this day.

Since the opening of Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém, the original recipe that inspired pastel de nata varieties is kept in a secret room. The Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém is, therefore, the only place on earth that produces the original pastry that inspired many variations commonly known as "pastéis de nata"; the shop is located just a short three-minute walk from the Jerónimos Monastery.

The shop offers both takeout and sit-in services and sells an astonishing amount of 20,000 pastéis a day.

In 2009 The Guardian listed pastéis de Belém as one of the 50 "best things to eat" in the world. In 2011, following the result of a public vote, the pastry was announced as one of Portugal's Seven Wonders of Gastronomy, further cementing it as one of the country's most popular national dishes.