Only 3 cooks in Lisbon know the 200-year-old secret of the 'pasteis de Belem'
LISBON -- For almost two centuries people from around the world have flocked to a pastry shop in Lisbon for a creamy custard tart made according to a recipe that has been kept secret since it was bought from a monastery in the early 1800s.
The cavernous establishment located near the tombs of Portugal's kings and queens is the only place that sells the tiny "pasteis de Belem," named after the riverside neighbourhood where the shop is located.
"There is nothing else like these," said Augusto Moraes, 37, as waiters wearing white shirts and black bow ties hustled back and forth to deliver plates of the tarts which can be eaten in just two or three bites.
While the shop serves other traditional cafe foods, waiters say most people who visit come for the tarts which sell for less than one euro (dollar) each.
It is especially busy on Sundays when entire families along with tourists and young couples fill its tile-walled rooms of differing sizes and a line of customers waiting to get inside often stretches outside its doors.
Around 100 workers make 15,000 of the tarts each day which can be served with a sprinkling of cinnamon or powdered sugar -- or both.
The shop tries to stay faithful to the recipe -- known only by three people -- to ensure the cakes taste the same as when they were first made despite changes over the years to the suppliers of the ingredients causing difficulties.
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The cavernous establishment located near the tombs of Portugal's kings and queens is the only place that sells the tiny "pasteis de Belem," named after the riverside neighbourhood where the shop is located.
"There is nothing else like these," said Augusto Moraes, 37, as waiters wearing white shirts and black bow ties hustled back and forth to deliver plates of the tarts which can be eaten in just two or three bites.
While the shop serves other traditional cafe foods, waiters say most people who visit come for the tarts which sell for less than one euro (dollar) each.
It is especially busy on Sundays when entire families along with tourists and young couples fill its tile-walled rooms of differing sizes and a line of customers waiting to get inside often stretches outside its doors.
Around 100 workers make 15,000 of the tarts each day which can be served with a sprinkling of cinnamon or powdered sugar -- or both.
The shop tries to stay faithful to the recipe -- known only by three people -- to ensure the cakes taste the same as when they were first made despite changes over the years to the suppliers of the ingredients causing difficulties.