What on earth is that weird sounding phrase you ask? Well, for anyone who has ever frequented Costa you will already know. Pastel de Nata is a Portuguese custard tart and, yesterday, I learnt how to make them.

The School of Portuguese Food

I went on a course with Homecooking Lisbon.

There are several thoughts that went through my head while doing this:

1. I should never open a bakery.
2. Why am I so bad at rolling a rolling pin? Isn’t the whole point that they roll?
3. Our egg is so orange, that’s good.
4. Why is our custard solution so orange compared to everyone else’s, that’s bad.
5. I could totally open a bakery…

They actually have the recipe for this lovely pastry (my dad’s favourite although that could just be because it involves custard) on their website. Because of this I won’t be repeating it all here.

However, let me tell you now, the recipe leaves out all of the fine detail that makes these tarts special, so don’t be dissuaded from going on a proper course just because the internet told you how.

There is something to be said about having an actual teacher there with you; it isn’t always necessary but it can be nice. We were told how to cut here, roll there, the bubbles should be like this etc. This is something that I can’t tell you over a screen because I was a good girl paying attention to the teacher and didn’t record any of it.

Apart from that extra-special bit of something-something that you get from a teacher, you also get to meet and talk to other people who are interested in learning the same things as you and they are from all over the world. We had Canadians, American-Dutch-Australian mix, French, the list goes on.

Plus, how could you say no to this swirl?

Recommendations

What would I recommend before doing this course? Eat as many pastel de nata as you can, because then you will know how good these are. They have the perfect balance of sweet and salty, crisp and tender. One group said that they had been to (supposedly) the best pastel de nata producer in Lisbon; they accused that supplier of lying after making these.

The tarts keep pretty well but, for those of you back home, I guess I’m just going to have to subject you to my awful baking skills when I return. Does somebody want to get the little tins ready for me?

Note to self: these do not get properly washed but are actually brushed clean with a cloth.

Shop-bought Pastel de Nata

Of course, the shop was always going to try and one-up whatever we made. In the evening, I saw this in a supermarket:

Seems a bit excessive if you ask me… I mean, think how much more port you would have to drink with that compared to what we had. I know someone who would love to crack open a bottle where the bill would make you question if it was worth it.

Got any ideas of things I should learn to make while I’m in their country of origin? Let me know.