Portuguese pastry, Lisbon, artisan craftsmanship
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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Torta de Azeitão: the golden roll that came from the Alentejo
The fork meets no resistance, the thin sheet of sponge gives way, and the egg cream appears. A torta de Azeitão hides nothing: two elements, one gesture, and…
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Meias-luas of Viana: the pastry you bought without seeing a soul
A coin laid on a wooden tray, a half turn, and the pastry appears without you ever seeing the hand that made it. In Viana do Castelo, meias-luas were sold this…
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Doce de gila: the squash you smash on the ground to make a dessert
You do not cut it open, you throw it on the ground. And what comes out of the broken squash looks nothing like a dessert: white, dry, tangled fibres. Sugar and…
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