My last post covered one of the best-rated places to get Portugal’s most famous dessert/snack treat, Pastéis de Nata, at Manteigaria in central Lisbon. However, no discussion of Pastéis de Nata is complete without a discussion of another, similar famous Pastéis, the Pastéis de Belém. Unlike the ubiquitous Pastéis de Nata, Pastéis de Belém are basically available from one place, the eponymous Pastéis de Belém bakery in Lisbon’s Belém waterside district.
Pastéis de Belém definitely has the pedigree, they essentially invented the entire Pastéis de Nata style that’s been copied by everyone else. The monks at the nearby Jerónimos Monastery invented the recipe in the late 17th century, nominally as a way of using up the egg yolks left over when they used all of the egg whites for starching religious clothing, and they started selling the pastries to raise funds. After the dissolution of religious orders, the monastery closed, and the recipe was sold to a group of owners who opened Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. The existing bakery and its owners are both descendant from this effort. Since then, the many variations of the broader Pastéis de Nata spread over the region, and then country.
Making most tourist lists, and being literally across the street from Jerónimos Monastery (one of the area’s biggest tourist attractions), the bakery is one of the Lisbon area’s top tourist attractions in itself, with lines to match. Unless you arrive very early, you are likely to find the situation we did, with lines extending down the street (although the workers at Pastéis de Belém are extremely efficient), and over 20,000 Pastéis sold a day. The interior of the place is supposedly quite ornate with the typical early-20th century decor and extensive Azulejo tiles (picture here from a CC-licensed Flickr photo), but due to the lines, we didn’t get inside ourselves. My brother Dan instead “helpfully” waited out the line while we were still at Jerónimos Monastery (myself, I usually like to actually see the interiors even of the busy places), and we instead sampled our Pastéis de Belém in a nearby park.
When ordered to go, they are loaded up in the typical three-pack cardboard tube much like the typical train station Pastéis de Nata, with cinnamon and sugar packets given separately so you can apply them to-order.
So, let’s get down to brass tacks, how are these? First, they are different from your run of the mill Pastéis de Nata, although the basic recipe and construction are identical, so the Pastéis de Belém are basically just a sub-type of the larger category. The differences are mostly textural (the Pastéis de Belém custard is more firmly set than most Pastéis de Nata), the spicing (the exact composition of which is secret) distinctly more cinnamon-rich, and the custard slightly sweeter. Other than that, these are basically a well-above-average exemplar of the general type.
All-in-all, when it comes to a Lisbon area showdown, I actually give the nod to Manteigaria… but if you are in the area, it’s worth the trek out to Belém to see the monastery, the waterfront, and sample the original source of one of the area’s most enduring culinary traditions.
