• Travelsignposts Home
  • Country Guides
  • City Guides
  • River Cruises
  • Europe Photos
  • About Us

Portugal Travel

  • Home
  • Photos
  • Map
  • Weather
  • Site Map
  • Destinations
  • Sightseeing
  • Shopping
  • Food
  • Getting around
  • Useful facts
  • News & Events
You are here: Home / Food / Portuguese Tarts – Desserts

Portuguese Tarts – Desserts

By Helen Page Leave a Comment

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Oh What a Tart!

Portuguese Custard TartsLike the early explorers before it, the Portuguese tart has circumnavigated the world and today, this delectable dessert can be found in coffee shops and pastry joints around the world. Yes, I’ve devoured many of them in different countries, but strangely so, not in Portugal. So, I’m on a mission this summer in search of this sweet temptation!

Where to find the best Portuguese tarts?

Cafe de Belem, or Pasteis de Belém, at Rua de Belém 84-95 is the place to head for and the queues here will test your determination to feed your Portuguese tart addiction. This patisserie has been in business since 1837 and sells an incredible 19,000 tarts a day. It is popular with tourists as well as locals and the tables inside may be hard to come by. You have to be quick if you spot someone leaving. Don’t be put off by the long queues outside as many customers are here for take-away tarts which are sold from the front counter.

The Portuguese have a great love of sweets and there are some 200 different varieties of cakes, pastries and biscuits. The best known recipes are believed to have been created by the nuns and monks from Portugal’s convents and monasteries.

Believe It, Believe It Not!

It is believed that the Portuguese tart had its origin from the convent. During medieval times, it was the practice by nuns to stiffen their habits by using large amounts of egg whites. The leftover egg yolks were then used up in recipes. When convents and monasteries were shut down during the liberal revolution in the 1800s, one enterprising former resident of the monastery made a living by selling egg-based tarts to nearby general stores. These tarts became so popular that they attracted loads of visitors to the monastery and to the Belem Tower. Production of the pastries began in earnestness in the 1830s in a factory situated on the site of the current cafe. As mentioned above, these Portuguese tarts can be bought in pastry shops around the world, but the ones from the Pasteis de Belém has a secret ingredient which only three people have knowledge of. Having just seen the movie Duplicity, we might just send Clive Owen and Julia Roberts on a mission to discover this secret ingredient!

Click here to get a free PDF of this post

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: Custard Tarts, Desserts, Food, Pasteis de Belém, Pastéis de Nata, Portuguese Tarts, Sweets

avatar

About Helen Page

Helen Page is a prolific blogger and ardent traveller; she runs Travelsignposts with her professional writer and photographer husband Tony.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You can also find us on

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Additions

  • Castelo Arraiolos – The Arraiolos Castle on the Hill
  • Arraiolos – Famous for its Embroidery and Arraiolos Carpets
  • Wine and Cheese Tasting in Arraiolos
  • Elevador de Santa Justa – An Eccentric Lisbon Elevator
  • Caldo Verde – A Portuguese Kale Soup

Plan and Book Your Trip


eNews and Updates

feedburner Sign up now to get emailed news as well as other site updates!

Get the Guerrilla Travel Photography ebook here now!
City Guides
Country Guides
River Cruises

Who is behind Travelsignposts?

Helen and Tony Page at Singapore Changi Airport

We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!

Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!

Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but we've just launched Travelsignposts China and Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.

Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.

Other Countries

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Devon & Cornwall
  • England
  • Estonia
  • Europe (General)
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

Resources

  • Take Better Digital Photos eBook Take Better Digital Photos eBook
  • Take Better Digital Photos Free eCourse
  • Travel Signposts Photo – our main travel photography site
  • Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook

Copyright © 2023 ·Lifestyle Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in

Get a free PDF of this post!
Just enter your email address below and we'll send it to you immediately.

Please enter your Email Address