I was lucky enough to visit Lisbon towards the end of last year for a couple of nights with 'chief taste tester' husband. This trip had been moved a couple of times due to the pandemic, so we were unsure if we would ever make it, but we are very glad we did.
I had always heard very good things about Portugal's capital city - how relaxed and how beautiful it was. My expectations were met and more! The city has a lovely mix of cultures and styles from its early days of sea exploration and this is reflected not only in the architecture (those tiles!!!), but also in the food.
Lisbon is well known for its Portuguese tarts, but I wanted to delve in deeper and find out what other Portuguese bakes are available. But first....lets take a closer look at the delicious Pasteis de Nata - a little tart with a whole lot of history!
The Pastel de Nata’s history dates back over 300 years - to Jerónimos Monastery in Belém (above), which is situated west of Lisbon (easily reachable by bus). Today the monastery is a major tourist hotspot and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but at the time it was a busy civil parish where, in the absence of laundry detergent, monks would use egg whites to starch their clothes. This process meant there were lots of egg yolks going spare, so to avoid these going to waste, they used them to make desserts. The monk's perfected their secret recipe and soon began selling the tarts as a way to raise income to support the monastery. When the monastery closed in 1834, the recipe was sold to the nearby Fabrics de Pasteis de Belem who opened in 1837 and are still using the same recipe today (which is now a closely guarded secret). It is worth visiting this place for a little taste of Portuguese history. Sometimes the queues can be long, but you can easily pop round the back and sit in the courtyard, with a cup of espresso and a delicious treat.
If you want somewhere quieter and less touristy, you can cross the road and pay a visit to a small, but very authentic local cafe and bar called Pasteis de Cerveja. Here we tried queijadas de elite (milk tarts) and mini bolo de cereveja (beer cake). Have a guess which one the chief taste tester tried twice!!
Here are a few of our favourite cafe's in Lisbon for when you need a pit stop after walking up all the city hills:
We didn't get time to try these, but I've heard good things.....
You cannot visit Lisbon and not check out the Time Out Market. https://www.timeoutmarket.com/lisboa/en/
It is situated in the Mercado da Ribeira at Cais do Sodré. It opened in 2014 and houses 35 different food and drink stalls - highlighting the best cuisine that Lisbon has to offer.
We visited twice and tried many different dishes (including these sardine bruschetta).
For desert, I would definitely recommend picking up a pastel de nata from Manteigaria - https://www.timeoutmarket.com/lisboa/en/eat-and-drink/manteigaria-fabrica-de-pasteis-de-nata/
Some would say these tasty little treats rival the original's from Belem. I have to say, I don't disagree! You can pick up a freshly made tart that is still warm and drizzle cinnamon on the top. So good!!!!!!
If you are after a different sweet treat, it is worth paying a visit to Recordação de Sintra: https://www.timeoutmarket.com/lisboa/en/eat-and-drink/recordacao-sintra/
This is a travesseiros of Sintra (travesseiro means pillow in Portuguese). It is a sweet flaky pastry with an almond cream filing. You can take a day trip to visit Sintra which is a town in the cooling hills behind Lisbon where the Royals used to spend their summers in grand colourful palaces. https://www.sintra-portugal.com/index.html This bakery in the market shares the traditional recipes that they use in their Sintra bakery.
Finally, I wanted to share a picture of a lovely local cafe we visited on our last day. We were trying to escape the rain and find somewhere for a quick coffee and came across this beautiful place.
If you are off to Lisbon, I hope this blog is helpful and if not, perhaps I have inspired you to try baking some Portuguese treats!
I want to give this recipe for Portuguese tarts a try: https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/portuguese-custard-tarts-pasteis-de-nata/
If you want to make milk tarts:
Recipe for Queijadas de leite (makes 12)
Grease 12 paper cupcake cases and dust with flour. Heat the oven to 220 degree centigrade.
Heat 500ml whole milk in a pan over a medium heat until just below boiling. Remove then add 25g butter. Stir until melted.
Combine 100g flour and 250g caster sugar in a bowl. Add 4 eggs, grated zest of 1/2 lemon, 0.5 tsp vanilla and beat until smooth.
Pour in the hot milk mixture and whisk continuously.
Use a jug to divide the batter between the cases.
Cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack in their cases (they will collapse).
Serve with a little icing sugar or cinnamon dusted on the top.
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