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Lisbon: the secret of
Pastéis de Belém
Custard tartlets from Lisbon: one just isn’t enough
de Belém.
It begins in 1834, when the church
and the state were separated by law in Portugal. From then on, mo- nasteries were not allowed to run secular businesses. But a clever monk from Belém got the recipe for the Pastéis in the monastery’s kitchen, and presented it to the neighbouring sugar re nery. It went down a storm.
As far as sweet-toothed sins were concerned, the monks from the Jerónimos Monastery were experts: the nuns needed huge quantities of egg white to stiffen their headdresses, meaning that the monastery’s kitchen always had huge quantities of egg yolks available. The puff pastry tarts with their creamy lling became the monks’ daily bread.
Very quickly, from 1837 onwards, the rst Pastéis de Belém made their way onto the counter in the re nery’s shop. The demand for the tartlets was so great that the confectioners decided to keep their recipe a secret. “Nowadays, this is part of our legend,” says Clarinha, grinning.
Flour, sugar, eggs, milk, butter. That’s everything
The waiter brings over two of the lukewarm tartlets. Sprinkled with cinnamon, the taste of the sweet custard on the crispy puff pastry is simply divine. After the rst bite it’s clear: one just isn’t enough. Cla- rinha laughs. He’s familiar with this: when his guests close their eyes and cede to their palate entirely.
“I eat one of them, at least, every
day,” he says. “After all, I have to make sure of the quality.” This is because Clarinha is one of just three people in the world who know the exact recipe for Pastéis de Belém. He and his two head pastry chefs are never allowed to go on holiday at the same time as a result.
“Senhor Clarinha, will you tell us the recipe?” Clarinha nods. “Sure,” he says. “You need flour, sugar, eggs, milk and butter. That’s ever- ything.” No cream? No magic? “No, it just depends on having the right temperatures and the ratios in the mixture,” says Clarinha.
However, this is such a secret that the custard is stirred behind a locked door. “O cina do Secre- do” is written outside the room, or, “secret of ce”. Inside, a mixer
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