Pastéis de nata: the custard tart technique
Belém, Lisbon, Portugal
The most famous Portuguese pastry and one of the world's great products of technique meeting simplicity — a caramelised egg custard in a rough-puff pastry shell, served warm with cinnamon and icing sugar. The original was created by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, Lisbon, in the early 19th century to use surplus egg yolks from the wine-fining process (whites were used to stiffen vestments).
The pastel de Belém (the original, still made to a secret recipe at the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém, open since 1837) differs from the generic pastel de nata in temperature of service, caramelisation intensity, and pastry technique. The key technique is baking at the highest possible temperature — 280-300°C — which caramelises the egg surface while keeping the interior just barely set.