Too good to throw

By Tom Harte

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the comedienne Mabel Normand threw the first custard pie in a movie in 1913. Her target was Fatty Arbuckle, himself a skilled pie-thrower, who eventually mastered the technique of throwing two pies at once -- in opposite directions.

The two started a convention in silent film comedies that was responsible for the lobbing of thousands of pies, so many, in fact, reports Lorna Riley in her Movie Lover's Cookbook, that the bakery in Glendale, California, which supplied them ended up having no time to make anything else.

Though the practice of throwing custard pies is meant to be funny, I never found it particularly amusing. And I was never more convinced that ballistic custard pies are a culinary travesty than when, on a street corner in Lisbon, I first tasted pasteis de nata, the sublime little custard tart that is the quintessential dessert of Portugal.

If you think of codfish when you think of Portuguese cuisine (an understandable reaction since the country has 365 different recipes for it), pasteis de nata will change your perspective. Sure, the Portuguese have an appreciation for seafood, as befits citizens of the world's first maritime empire, but, as a walk down the bakery-lined streets of Lisbon leads you to suspect, they also have a sweet tooth. And the embodiment of it is pasteis de nata. No wonder there's even a Portuguese fado song which pays tribute to it as having "no equal in the world."

Portuguese custard tarts begin with rolled cinnamon-dusted puff pastry.TOM HARTE

The song is right. Pasteis de nata is a religious experience, which, perhaps, is appropriate since, like so many of Portugal's desserts, it originated in a monastery.

Back when convents and monasteries were in their heyday, egg whites were used to starch laundry (nuns' habits, for example) and to clear wines. This meant there were a lot of egg yolks leftover for which some use had to be found. Happily, perhaps through divine inspiration, monks and nuns began using the yolks to create a proliferation of wonderful cakes and pastries. (Indeed, just about every traditional Portuguese cake was invented by a monk.) The most famous result was the pasteis de nata, clearly the ultimate tribute to leftovers.

The particular monastery responsible for the invention of pasteis de nata is the Jer--nimos Monastery, where Vasco da Gama is buried, located in the Belem neighborhood of Lisbon. The tarts are made today at a nearby pastry shop using the original recipe, formulated in the 16th century.

That recipe may be the most closely guarded culinary secret in Portugal. Only four or five people know it; they have to commit it to memory rather than write it down, must swear to never reveal it, and for security's sake cannot travel together. They do their work in a room closed off by a metal door labeled "secret."

Fortunately, others have attempted to crack the secret, and pasteis de nata is available everywhere in Portugal, even on island possessions like the Azores. If ever there were a custard pie less worth throwing and more worth eating, this is it.

The front counter at Fabrica de Nata in Lisbon, Portugal, stands ready to serve up the country's quintessential dessert, custard tarts.

Portuguese Custard Tarts

This recipe is adapted from Anneka Manning on SBS.com, the Australian Food Network.

Invented in the 16th century at a monastery, Portuguese custard tarts like these served at Fabrica de Nata in Lisbon have deservedly become the country's signature dessert.TOM HARTE ~ photos@semissourian.com

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 9 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk together yolks, egg, 8 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk, then cream. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and starts to simmer. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, cover surface with plastic wrap, and chill for one hour, stirring occasionally. Combine remaining tablespoon sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over pastry sheet. Roll up into a log. Cut into 12 portions. Roll each portion out into 3-inch circle and press onto bottom and sides of 12 buttered (3/8 cup capacity) muffin tins. Repeat with remaining pastry portions. Fill each pastry case with cooled custard and bake at 410 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until pastry is crisp and filling is golden and slightly singed on top. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove and cool on rack for 30 minutes before serving.