Pastéis de nata were created by Catholic monks at the Hieronymites Monastery in Saint Mary of Bethlehem, in Lisbon.[3] During that time, convents and monasteries used egg-whites for starching clothes being part of their religious habits. They also used the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and sweet pastries.
After the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal, people abandoned religion and closed down many convents and monasteries, the monks started selling pastéis de nata to bring in income. In 1834, the monastery was closed and the recipes sold to the sugar refinery owners. In 1837, the super refinery owners opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém and made pastries.[4]
Since the opening of Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém, the original recipe of the pastel de nata is kept as a secret. The recipe is unchanged to this day and is known by very few people. The Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém, remains the most popular place to buy pastéis de nata around Lisbon. The shop is located near the Jerónimos Monastery. [5][6]
In 2009 The Guardian listed pastéis de Belém as one of the 50 "best things to eat" in the world and has over 50,000 reviews and ratings on Tripadvisor for its iconic pastéis de nata.[7][8]
In 2011, following the result of a public vote, the pastry was announced as one of Portugal's Seven Wonders of Gastronomy, it is one of the country's most popular national dishes.[9]
Amaral, André; Pires, Carla; Castro e Silva, Daniel; Medeiros, Luís; André, Mário Rui (December 2011), O Segredo do Marketing dos Pastéis de Belém(PDF) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Escola Superior de Comunicação Social, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, archived from the original(PDF) on 2022-10-01, retrieved 2022-01-28
