Portuguese pastry, Lisbon, artisan craftsmanship
Ceylon cinnamon: the bark the Portuguese found by accident
On a pastel de nata that is still warm, it comes last, in a gesture lasting one second. Yet this brown powder has crossed an ocean, a storm and a century and a…
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Alfarroba: the Algarve's black gold, harvested with a long pole
In late August, in the hills behind the Algarve coast, you hear it long before you see anything: a dry, repeated clatter, steady as hail on a stretched…
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Papos de anjo: the egg-yolk cake that is cooked twice
It leaves the oven baked, golden and domed — and yet the work is not finished. The papo de anjo goes straight into a pan of warm syrup, where it swells a…
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Jesuíta: the crackling triangle Santo Tirso guards so fiercely
Some pastries announce themselves by sound. The jesuíta of Santo Tirso starts with a thin crust of sugar that gives way in one clean snap, before the puff…
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Pastel de Chaves: the recipe bought from a stranger in 1862
A half-moon of puff pastry, a veal filling, and a recipe bought for one pound from a street seller whose name nobody ever learned. The most mysterious savoury…
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Leite-creme: the red-hot iron that cracks Portuguese custard
You hear it before you taste it: the spoon presses, the sugar crust gives way with a dry crack, and underneath there is nothing hard left. Leite-creme lives…
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Pudim Abade de Priscos: the Portuguese pudding with no milk
A dark, dense Portuguese pudding born in a presbytery near Braga, whose original recipe contains not a drop of milk. This is the pudim Abade de Priscos, and…
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Fios de Ovos: The Portuguese Egg Thread That Conquered Siam
Egg yolk falling in a thin stream into boiling syrup, and coming out as golden thread. Fios de ovos may be the most spectacular gesture in Portuguese pastry —…
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Cavacas: The Hollow Cake the Cavaqueiras Sold From Wicker Baskets
A matt white glaze that shatters under your teeth, and almost nothing underneath. The cavaca is a Portuguese cake built around its own hollow — and that is…
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