Page 98 - DiVin022017

Sweet custard atop the entrance to this World Heritage cked shirt is the owner of the Con-
crispy puff pastry: heaven on earth. The recipe for the famous Pastéis de Belém has been kept a secret for
almost 180 years. The guardians of this secret? Three pastry chefs in a Confeitaria in Lisbon.
If sugar, butter and eggs are the root of happiness, then paradise is to be found in Belém. The tram heading towards this suburb of Lisbon is crammed full at 10 a.m.
In times gone by, conquistadors set sail from Belém, but today tou- rists want to climb up the Torre de Belém, an impressive viewing tower on the bank of the Tejo. Alternati- vely they head off on a pilgrimage to the Jerónimos Monastery. In the summertime, the queue in front of
Site snakes round in eight rows. A few hundred metres away, a queue also forms in front of a pastry shop in the mornings. Con- feitaria Pastéis de Belém is not a World Heritage Site, but it is almost as famous as the monastery: it is the birthplace of the famous
vanilla tartlets.
It’s true that “Pastéis de Nata”
can be found all over Lisbon. You can even pick up passable versions in Portuguese cafés in Germany. But the palm-sized mini desserts don’t taste as good anywhere other than in the Belém pastry shop.
Monks’ daily bread
Miguel Clarinha winds his way through the huge, light rooms, passing jam-packed tables. The 32-year-old man wearing a che-
feitaria, based in premises that were previously used as a sugar re nery. The walls are covered in white and blue tiles; the ceiling is supported by wooden beams. It is noisy and warm, with tourists from Germany, Italy and China pushing themselves forward to the tables, and the clattering of coffee cups rings out above the babble of languages.
Clarinha sinks into a chair. He looks tired. Every day, he and his team bake 20,000 tartlets. “At peak times in high summer and before Christmas, we sometimes bake even more,” says Clarinha. He ags the waiter down and orders a “Bica”, an espresso, and a couple of the tartlets. Only then does he start to tell the story of the Pastéis
98