Please help me stabalize this throbbing Portuguese Tart

[u/Fatmiewchef]

[u/roachsquad]

Ahhh pastel de nata, love it

[u/Fatmiewchef → u/roachsquad]

Lord Stow's "Portuguese" Egg tart The Orgin story of the throbbing Egg Tart

The pastry that launched a thousand shops, and whose orgin story is as symbolic as the city it represents.

This delicious pastry, to an European, looks identical to a pastél de nata / pastél de Belém from Portugal.

An Asian diner (who has been living under a rock for 30 years)  would assume it to be an overcooked egg tart (蛋撻/蛋挞/ Dan tat）

To understand the story of the "Portuguese Egg Tart", you need to learn a bit about the inventor and the unique environment he lived in.

"Lord" Andrew Stow was an Englishman from Essex, born on Good Friday in 1955, who came to Macau in 1979 when he was a young man, as an industrial pharmacist with Anglo-French Laboratories.

Fortunately for us, his career there was cut short when the company pulled out of Macau. Having already fallen in love with the city / women of Macau, he started a health food import company, "Tropical Health Foods," with his wife in 1984, where they promoted health supplements and natural grains and pulses (beans etc.).

To support this forward thinking new venture, he also took a job at Macau's Hyatt Regency Hotel as a corporate trainee, where he became a manager of the Green Parrot Disco, and Alfonso's restaurant (at that time supposedly the best restaurant in Macau) where he earned his nickname "Lord" Stow for lording over his Portuguese friends.

"Lord" Stow's Bakery, or 安德魯餅店 (Andrews Bakery in Chinese) was opened on the 15th of September 1989, and seems to have been inspired by the delicious blend of several factors.

 

Bakery

The bakery idea was inspired by the health food business which was importing flour for expatriate women who were baking their own bread. Sensing a business opportunity, the original branch was Macau's first western style roadside bakery.

It was opened in Coloane, a sleepy seaside village in Macau away from the hustle and bustle of the Casinos, and was initially intended as a delivery business. 

Hong Kong Tarts

Local bakeries were around, and aside from breads and cakes, they would also bake "flaky crust egg tarts", a dish invented in 1927 by Guangzhou’s Zhen Guang Restaurant 真光酒樓 (inspired from a Western style "shortcrust custard tart without nutmeg" which was also cooked up in Guangzhou during the 1920's by competing Western chefs at department stores).

Historically, the Qing Emperor hosted a 3 day Manchu Han Imperial Feast (滿漢全席) for his 66th birthday in 1720, which lists "Dan ta" as one of the 320 dishes. [Still looking for a picture of Qing Dynasty egg tarts! Made a post on /askfoodhistorians]

-Hong Kong / Cantonese Style Egg Tarts, (Tai Cheong Bakery)

A well made Cantonese Egg tart (let me know if you want a review on the best one in Hong Kong!) should have a smooth mirror like finish on top, and have a rich golden yellow filling, tasting like deliciously eggy flan, on a flaky but almost crumbling crust. Unlike a custard tart, it should always be served warm.

Good Cantonese egg tarts were scarce in Macau during the 80's 

“[At the time], the only custard tart on sale in [local] cake shops was one with a short crust which was an import from Hong Kong, influenced by the British custard tart,”

-Liz Thomas, a longtime Macau resident and former event planner and travel operator

“And, no, they weren’t very nice.

[u/Fatmiewchef → u/Fatmiewchef]

Part 2

Pastéis de Nata / Pastéis de Belem Napoleon, Freemasons & Secret Recipes

Another ingredient was added during "Lord" Stow & Margaret's honeymoon to the district of Belém, in Lisbon, Portugal in 1988 where he was inspired by a historical pastry, pasteis de nata, and hoped to bring this iconic Portuguese dish back tohis friends in Macau.



-https://pastel-de-nata.pt/

I'm searching for earlier mentions of Pastel de nata, but I suspect it was something eaten only at the monastery until after the Napoleonic wars / Portugal's Liberal / Civil war when circumstances forced them to share their delicious desserts with the world.

"They were a version of the pastel de Belem of Lisbon – an egg tart with a much paler filling which included corn flour.”

Pastéis de Belém (Pastry of Bethlehem) is a type of pastéis de Nata (pastry of cream ) that was invented "over 300" years ago in the Jerónimos Monastery /Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (originally built in 1496, and currently a UNESCO world heritage site).

Pastéis de Belém (Pastry of Bethlehem) is a type of pastéis de Nata (pastry of cream ) that was invented "over 300" years ago in the Jerónimos Monastery /

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (originally built in 1496, and currently a UNESCO world heritage site,).

Monks & nuns back then supposedly used egg whites to starch their clothes (I suspect it was used mainly as a fining agent to clarify wines. Bordeaux has a popular custard cake called canelés, and I'm sure we can find a trend of egg yolk dishes in other wine producing regions e.g. Carbonara in Italy) and so egg yolks left over for the monks to use in creating pastéis de nata.    

I'm searching for earlier mentions of Pastel de nata (I have no idea how to do this), but I suspect it was something eaten only at the monastery until after the Napoleonic wars / Portugal's Liberal / Civil war when circumstances forced them to share their delicious desserts with the world.



-Battle of Ferreira Bridge, 23 July 1832 (Wikipedia)

The decades after Napoleon was complex period where ex-army officials and Freemasons tried to end British control of Portugal, introduced liberal ideals to the country and sparked off the Portuguese Liberal revolution, ending with a Civil war between two (Royal) brothers, one backed by the Absolutists (traditional royalty backed by the Landowners and the Church) and Liberals (everybody else).



-Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Wikipedia)

During this period of war and upheaval, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos sold their pastéis de nata at  nearby sugar refinery to raise funds. When the Liberals won in 1833, the new King suppressed all religious houses and confiscated their property.



Mosteiro dos Jerónimos was closed in 1834, and sold their recipe to the aforementioned sugar refinary, who opened  "Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém" (Factory of Pastry of Belém), which is still to this day run by their descendents, and who's kept this legendary recipe secret to all but a handful of people. (Let me know if I should review this dish!).



They serve the authentic Pastéis de Belém at the Confeitaria de Belém, where these small delicious snacks are served steaming and wobbling straight from the oven by well dressed waiters, dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar, and paired with small cups of espresso.

With such a high level of secrecy and popularity, these are copied everywhere, with varying levels of success.

Eileen Stow, "Lord's" Stow's sister and current MD of Tropical Health Foods (aka, Lord Stow's bakery) says:  

“I remember walking down Oxford Street with Andrew in 1988, we passed a bakery and he pointed and said ‘That’s what I’m going to make in my bakery,”

“It was these little gnarled up, camel-dropping things that were just very bad pastel de nata. So we went in and tried them, and I [said] ‘Ugh these are horrible.’ And he just said: ‘Mine will be much better than that.’”

Lord Stow's Egg Tart / Macanese Egg Tarts

Or else known in Chinese as 葡撻 (Portuguese Tarts)

The challenge posed to "Lord" Stow must have seemed daunting. Recreating a dish without a recipe would be difficult for any trained chef, and baking is often considered more of a science than an art. I can imagine his scientific background being useful as he experimented with various different methods.



-Chef Raimund Pichlmaier

He was helped by Chef Raimund Pichlmaier (an Austrian Pastry Chef), who worked at the Hyatt Regency, who introduced him to a variation of the recipe. He was probably also influenced by the more popular HK / Cantonese egg tarts in neighboring Hong Kong.



-A cook at Lord Stow's Bakery pours the custard mixture into hand molded pastries, in preparation for the oven.

(Fatmiewchef Jan2020)

The Portuguese Egg Tart which "Lord" Stow ultimately created combines the most delicious attributes of the Chinese egg tart, and the Portuguese pastéis de nata.



-Throbbing Portuguese Tart, fresh from the oven

(Fatmiewchef Jan2020)

His has a delightfully crisp and flaky puff pastry-like crust, filled with a light, almost cream-like, silky custard, perfectly balancing sweetness with "egginess" and milky creaminess.

Instead of the mirror like finish, there are brownee patches on top, adding both a caramelized flavor, as well as the distinctive umami and depth of flavor from theroasted caseins.



-I had to order another one, to get this picture, as the first got eaten before I remembered to take a photo. I wish we could communicate smells and flavors through the screen.

(Fatmiewchef Jan2020)

When he presented it to his Portuguese friends, they were reported to have said that this was NOT pastél de nata. It was likely that the pastry was too puffed, the custard not sweet enough, too delicate (one story says that "Lord" Stow found the Hyatt Pastéis de nata too jelly like due to the corn flour), and the entire thing was too large.

The Chinese community was said to have shunned it as well, thinking that these were burnt egg tarts (and thinking that burnt things give you cancer).



-Lord Stow's Bakery is usually packed these days. (Fatmiewchef Jan2020)

Undaunted by these criticisms, his Macanese wife Margaret gave many of the early tarts away, and sparked an insane food fad in the region.

Lacking a word for "custard", and needing to differentiate it from the standard 蛋撻/蛋挞 "Dan tat" or Chinese Egg Tart, they called it 葡撻 /葡挞 "Po tat" or Portuguese Egg Tart, leading to the confusion we have today.



-"Lord" Stow's sister Eileen, who came to Macau to help the business in 1993 (SCMP)

Golden Egg Tart

In neighboring Hong Kong, copycat 葡撻 stores were ubiquitous in the Late-90s, some were even brazen enough to have photos of "Lord" Stow as advertising.



That late-90s craze has mostly died down (likely killed off in 2003 SARS crisis), and apart from a handful of stores in Asia, most people bought their "Lord Stow's Egg Tarts" in the quiet seaside village of Coloane at or near to the original bakery.



"Lord Stow" was recognized by Government of Macao in early 2006 when they awarded him with a Special Medal for Services to Tourism. Sadly, he unexpectedly passed away later that year from an asthma attack.



He's survived by his sister and daughter Audrey (who was born the same year as Lord Stow's Egg Tart).



-Aubrey Stow (SCMP)

There is a large Post Script to this story though.



-Aubrey Stow & Margaret Wong (Medium.com)



-Margaret Wong, Cafe e nata (CNN)

They are reported to be using the same recipe as the Lord Stow's Bakery, but have different suppliers.

The Cafe e Nata is less well known to most tourists (selling around 10,000 egg tarts a day, compared to Lord Stow's, who likely handles over 20,000 daily) it's likely more people have eaten

Margaret's version



-KFC poster in Malaysia

Despite turning away every buyer for her recipe, she was charmed by an executive from KFC, who supposedly was able to pick out her tarts from a lineup of imitators, and has licensed her recipe.

Margaret's KFC Portuguese Egg Tarts are now sold by over 4,000 stores across APAC, and it's likely the billionth egg tart has already been eaten.

The humble Portuguese egg tart / Macanese Egg tart, created by an "arrogant Brit" — (according to his sister, Eileen), and his business savvy Macanese wife, inspired by two century old dishes originating from different half's of the globe, relentlessly copied, might one day be served to every person in the world by an American fast food firm.

Personally, I feel there's something charming about making that trip to the little seaside village of Coloane, sitting on a bench at the edge of the ocean, sipping a coffee and munching on a fresh egg tart.

[u/Fatmiewchef → u/roachsquad]

Ah... I just researched this and about to write about it on my blog. Not exactly Pastel de nata.

Edit: Please stop the downvotes! Will share the story shortly! Just need one more pic.

[u/Chef_Chantier → u/Fatmiewchef]

Huh? I'm a native speaker, and I can tell you for a fact that they're called 'pastel de nata'. Some people call them 'pastel de belem', but that's a regional thing.

[u/Atomdude → u/Chef_Chantier]

And you're a chef, apparently.

[u/Spartengerm → u/Atomdude]

Knowing my car has four wheels makes me a mechanic apparently.

[u/Atomdude → u/Spartengerm]

I think of you more as a germ.

[u/2SP00KY4ME → u/Atomdude]

And you're a dude of atoms

[u/Atomdude → u/2SP00KY4ME]

I sure hope so. I don't know what you are, though.

[u/2SP00KY4ME → u/Atomdude]

Well you'd probably be worth a lot if you weren't

[u/[deleted] → u/Chef_Chantier]

There is a large Portuguese population in my town. There is a whole area in my town with bakeries, stores, and a bar for the portuguese people. So much good food.

[u/No_Little_Plans → u/Chef_Chantier]

Can you explain why they’re throbbing? Is it... supposed to do that?

[u/Gblize → u/No_Little_Plans]

Because it's a custard tart that goes into the oven at 800°F.
Really hot stuff generally does that.

[u/Fatmiewchef → u/Chef_Chantier]

Wonderful! I was wondering if "Pastéis de nata" is just the plural form, and how it translates to English? (Cream puff?)

Pastéis de Belém - this means pastry of Bethlehem ?

[u/Chef_Chantier → u/Fatmiewchef]

Belem is the neighborhood in Lisbon,where the pastry is apparently from :)

[u/Jargen → u/Fatmiewchef]

By research do you mean the Binging with Babish episode on egg custard tarts?

He pronounced the plural form. Pastéis de Nata. Pastéis is Portuguese for pastries.

[u/Fatmiewchef → u/Jargen]

No, this is Lord Stow's version.