{"id":8289,"date":"2026-10-19T15:18:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8289"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:33","slug":"pastel-de-nata","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/pastel-de-nata\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastel de Nata"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rim of thin pastry shatters crisply, and the surface of the egg custard bears dark scorch marks. Portugal’s pastel de nata is a small tart made by filling a laminated-pastry case with custard and baking the two together at a high temperature. One is called a pastel, and more than one are called past\u00e9is. It is sometimes eaten dusted with cinnamon or powdered sugar. The brown on the surface is not a layer of caramel placed on afterward but the browning of the custard itself.<\/p>\n

\"Past\u00e9is<\/p>\n

Past\u00e9is de nata lined up in a shop in Lisbon. 2023, IngimarE (photo source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Slicing rolled dough and spreading it into molds<\/h2>\n

Fat is wrapped in a dough of wheat flour and water, which is rested and folded, then rolled out thin and rolled up. A single slice from the roll is placed in a mold and spread from the bottom up the sides with wet fingers, so the rolled layers open outward toward the rim. The lines of the layers also differ from those of tarts lined with a single flat cut-out sheet.<\/p>\n

The mold described in the traditional food documentation is about 7 cm in diameter. There are also the deep nat\u00e3o, with a high-rising rim, and bite-sized versions; even with the same custard and pastry, they are made in different heights and individual sizes.<\/p>\n

Cooking milk and flour, adding syrup and eggs, and baking at a high temperature<\/h2>\n

The custard of egg yolks, milk, and sugar may be thickened with wheat flour or starch. In the method of Lisbon’s school of tourism and hospitality, wheat flour and corn flour are dissolved in a little cold milk, and the rest of the milk, hot, is added gradually while cooking. Off the heat, a syrup made by boiling sugar, water, lemon peel, and cinnamon is mixed in, and finally whole eggs and egg yolks are added. Cooking the flour first means the liquid does not have to be brought to a boil after the eggs are added.<\/p>\n

The pastry cases are filled, and in the school’s method they are baked at 300\u2013350\u00b0C. The high temperature bakes the thin rims while setting the filling and giving the surface a deep color.<\/p>\n

\"Artisans<\/p>\n

Artisans making nata at a shop in central Lisbon. 2025, Philip Mallis (photo source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\"Past\u00e9is\n
The counter of the shop Nata 7 in Funchal, Madeira (November 14, 2025). Past\u00e9is de nata are lined up with their scorch-marked tops showing. Photo: Dietmar Rabich \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downsized version retrieved from Commons. No content alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

There are also methods in which no separate syrup is prepared and the flour and sugar are cooked with the milk. In the published recipe of Portuguese pastry chef Paulo Duarte, wheat flour, cornstarch, and sugar are added to hot milk and cooked, and the mixture is then cooled to body temperature before the egg yolks are mixed in. The tarts are baked at 320\u00b0C with strong bottom heat, and immediately after they come out, their surfaces are misted with water to give them a sheen. While the sequence of cooking the flour before adding the egg yolks is shared, the way the sugar is combined and the finishing after baking are not the same.<\/p>\n

Some fillings use fresh cream, and others use only milk. The notes left by Jo\u00e3o Ribeiro, head chef of the Hotel Aviz, combine milk, flour, sugar syrup, and egg yolks and contain no fresh cream. The 1936 book \u201cPortuguese Cookery\u201d records different filling recipes for tarts served warm and tarts served cold. Both had laminated-pastry exteriors, but the fillings were made differently depending on whether the tarts were served warm or cold.<\/p>\n

The founding of the Bel\u00e9m workshop and the passing down of its secret<\/h2>\n

Past\u00e9is de Bel\u00e9m, safeguarded by a shop in western Lisbon, is the name of one specific pastry. The shop’s own history relates that when the monasteries were closed in 1834, people connected with the Jer\u00f3nimos Monastery sold pastries at a shop attached to a nearby sugar refinery, and that production began in 1837. The recipe is still handed down among its pastry makers as a secret.<\/p>\n

Founder Domingos Rafael Alves is said to have hired a confectioner from the monastery in 1837. There is also an account that the company purchased the recipe (the proportions of ingredients and the method) in 1879, which means that more than 40 years separate the hiring of the confectioner and the acquisition of the rights to the recipe.<\/p>\n

In 1987, the 150th anniversary of the founding, Maria Irene Silva visited the workshop, where the pastry makers Henrique and Lu\u00eds Ramos carried on the secret recipe and the mixing room was kept locked. In addition to an old dough sheeter, they used electric ovens to meet demand and a wood-fired oven on Sundays and holidays. While guarding the secret of the recipe, they also adapted their tools and equipment to the volume of production.<\/p>\n

In 2011, in \u201c7 Wonders of Gastronomy (7 Maravilhas da Gastronomia),\u201d a public vote to select elements of Portuguese food culture, pastel de Bel\u00e9m was chosen as one of the seven winning dishes.<\/p>\n

\n\"Pastel\n
A plate of pastel de Bel\u00e9m served with other pastries (October 20, 2020). Dark scorch marks cover the surface of the custard, and overlapping layers of pastry are visible at the rim. Photo: Amanda Coutinho from S\u00e3o Paulo, Brasil \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Original-size image retrieved. No content alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Nata from monasteries in different places, and different ways of making the crust<\/h2>\n

Notes left by the last nun of Odivelas record a sweet combining cream, egg yolks, sugar, flower water, and cinnamon. That recipe, published in 1999, does not describe the crust in detail, and it is unclear whether it was laminated pastry. A 2001 municipal publication also records a crust closer to a short pastry than to laminated pastry. Several methods have also been handed down for the crust that holds the egg custard.<\/p>\n

According to food culture researcher Virg\u00edlio Nogueiro Gomes, a 1729 manuscript from the Convent of Santa Clara in \u00c9vora contains \u201cpastelinhos de nata,\u201d in which cream, egg yolks, and sugar are placed in small laminated-pastry cases. However, there is also research questioning the origin and the authenticity of the contents<\/a> of this convent manuscript, which has been attributed to 1729, so the year recorded in it cannot be taken directly as the date of the pastry. Small pastries made with cream, egg yolks, and sugar were handed down not only in Bel\u00e9m but also in convents in other places.<\/p>\n

The related bom bocado puts a lemon-accented egg custard into a sweet short-pastry case. Even with a similar filling, the bite of the pastry gives each its own distinct flavor.<\/p>\n

Refinement in Macau, and expansion to Hong Kong and Taiwan<\/h2>\n

For Macau’s po tat (\u8461\u64bb), too, pastry that has been rolled out thin and rolled up is sliced, spread into molds, and baked with a filling of milk, eggs, and fresh cream. Cultural heritage documentation records differences in formulas and baking methods from shop to shop. With its light pastry, soft custard, and scorch-marked surface, it became a local specialty.<\/p>\n

According to his bakery’s account, Andrew Stow, who was from Britain, opened a shop in Coloane in 1989 and, inspired by the nata he had tasted in Portugal, created his own recipe with British elements added. In the late 1990s, it expanded to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and, through a separate route, KFC Taiwan acquired the exclusive agency for Macau’s \u746a\u5609\u70c8\u86cb\u64bb (Margaret’s Caf\u00e9 e Nata) in 1998. The small Portuguese tart has spread overseas as well, with each shop varying its dairy formula and through new sales networks.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Jo\u00e3o Ribeiro<\/strong>: 1905\u20131988. Head chef of the Hotel Aviz in Portugal. His notes record a nata filling made with milk.<\/p>

Virg\u00edlio Nogueiro Gomes<\/strong>: An author who researches Portuguese food culture and old cookbooks.<\/p>

Domingos Rafael Alves<\/strong>: A sugar refinery owner and confectioner who appears in the founding history of the Bel\u00e9m pastry workshop.<\/p>

Maria Irene Silva<\/strong>: The author of a 1987 article featuring the workshop.<\/p>

Henrique \/ Lu\u00eds Ramos<\/strong>: The two people introduced in the same article as the pastry makers then carrying on the secret recipe.<\/p>

Laminated pastry<\/strong>: Dough rolled out with alternating layers of dough and fat. When baked, it becomes a crust of overlapping thin layers.<\/p>

Bel\u00e9m<\/strong>: A district in western Lisbon, home to the Jer\u00f3nimos Monastery and the Past\u00e9is de Bel\u00e9m shop, which traces its production back to 1837.<\/p>

Nat\u00e3o<\/strong>: A pastel de nata that is taller than usual.<\/p>

Bom Bocado<\/strong>: A related pastry in which a lemon-scented egg custard is placed in a sweet short-pastry case.<\/p>

Po tat (\u8461\u64bb)<\/strong>: A name used in Macau and elsewhere for Portuguese-style egg tarts.<\/p>

Andrew Stow<\/strong>: A British-born pharmacist and maker. He opened Lord Stow’s Bakery in Macau in 1989 and created his own egg tart.<\/p>

Paulo Duarte<\/strong>: Owner and pastry chef of Castella do Paulo in Kyoto. He publishes and teaches methods for making Portuguese sweets.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    7 Maravilhas organizers, \u201c7 Maravilhas da Gastronomia\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The 2011 public vote and lines 8\u201323 of the list of winners were re-read by the parent. The winner was Pastel de Bel\u00e9m; the award was not for nata as a whole or for all producers.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    DGADR, \u201cPast\u00e9is de Bel\u00e9m\u201d<\/a>: Dimensions, ingredients and hand shaping, finishing, and an explanation that treats the monastic origin as tradition.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    Past\u00e9is de Bel\u00e9m, \u201cHist\u00f3ria\u201d<\/a>: 1834 and 1837, sales adjacent to the refinery and the company’s own account of succession, the secret recipe.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Turismo de Portugal \/ Lisbon school of tourism and hospitality, \u201cPast\u00e9is de Nata\u201d<\/a>: Published recipe covering lamination, shaping by rolling and slicing, the sequence of flour and milk, syrup, and eggs, and 300\u2013350\u00b0C.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    Fabrico Pr\u00f3prio, \u201cPastel de Nata\u201d<\/a>: The spread of the generic name, nat\u00e3o.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Fabrico Pr\u00f3prio, \u201cBom Bocado\u201d<\/a>: Composition of the related pastry: sweet short pastry, nata custard, and lemon.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    Macao Cultural Heritage, \u201cConfec\u00e7\u00e3o de Past\u00e9is de Nata\u201d<\/a>: Refinement in Macau, the process for the crust and custard, technical differences among shops, transmission as food culture.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    Lord Stow\u2019s Bakery, \u201cLord Stow\u2019s Bakery\u201d<\/a>: The party’s own record of the 1989 opening, an original recipe with British elements added, and overseas expansion in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  9. \n

    KFC Taiwan, \u201cKFC History\u201d<\/a>: Acquisition in 1998 of the exclusive agency for \u746a\u5609\u70c8\u86cb\u64bb (Margaret’s Caf\u00e9 e Nata).<\/p>\n<\/li>

  10. \u30fbVirg\u00edlio Nogueiro Gomes, \u201cSobre os past\u00e9is de nata\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A report examining the recipe differences in the 1999 and 2001 Odivelas publications, the 1729 \u00c9vora manuscript, the separate warm and cold fillings in the 1936 book, and Ribeiro’s notes using milk. Distinguished from a direct reading of the original notes and cookbooks themselves.<\/p><\/li>

  11. Maria Irene Silva, \u201cOs 150 anos dos Past\u00e9is de Bel\u00e9m,\u201d Aerius 11 (December 1987), pp. 19\u201321<\/a> \u2014 A feature article of the time that distinguishes the 1837 hiring of the confectioner from the 1879 purchase of the recipe. The original contracts from both years have not been examined. Direct reporting on the pastry makers and the workshop equipment.<\/li>
  12. Castella do Paulo, \u201c[Recipe #01] The Pastel de Nata You’ll Fall in Love With in One Bite\u201d (April 28, 2025)<\/a> \u2014 Ingredients and method (77\u2013105) and instructor (119) actually read. Cooking milk, flour, and sugar; adding egg yolks after cooling; 320\u00b0C; misting immediately.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Pastel de nata is a Portuguese pastry made by filling a small pastry case with egg custard and baking it. Brown spots on top, and thin layers overlapping at the rim. In a single bite, the softness of the egg meets the lightness of the baked pastry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6834,"menu_order":44,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Pastel de nata","subtitle":"A Portuguese bite of egg custard baked in a thin pastry case","topics":"Egg yolks \/ Laminated pastry \/ Bel\u00e9m and the generic name","country":"Portugal","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cream","egg"],"texture":["crisp","smooth"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[163],"class_list":["post-8289","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8317,8271,8245,8246,8247,8248,8249,8250]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t