Judging a pastel de nata
The pastel de nata (plural pastéis de nata) is a small tart of rich egg custard in a crisp, laminated pastry shell, baked in a very hot oven until the top blisters with dark spots. That scorching is intentional. A great one has a shell that crackles and shows tight spiral layers on the bottom, a custard that is just set and slightly loose in the center, and a flavor of egg, lemon peel and cinnamon rather than plain sugar. They are best within hours of baking, ideally still a little warm. Many bakeries keep cinnamon and powdered sugar on the counter so you can dust your own.
Portuguese breads and sweets
- Massa sovada or pão doce: the soft, slightly sweet Portuguese sweet bread, often scented with lemon. Around Easter it becomes folar, sometimes with whole eggs baked into the top.
- Malasadas: yeasted, sugar-rolled fried dough from the Azores. In Hawaii and parts of New England, they are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday.
- Papo-secos: crusty rolls, the base of the bifana pork sandwich.
- Broa: a dense cornbread made with corn and wheat or rye.
- Bolos de arroz: rice-flour muffins with a paper collar.
- Queijadas: small, sweet cheese or custard tarts, a specialty of Sintra and the Azores.
The Brazilian padaria
A Brazilian padaria is part bakery, part snack bar. Pão de queijo, chewy cheese puffs made with cassava (tapioca) starch, are the classic; they are naturally made without wheat flour, though shared ovens mean they are not always safe for people with celiac disease. The savory case is stocked with salgados: teardrop-shaped coxinhas filled with shredded chicken and catupiry cheese, pastéis (fried pastry pockets), and esfihas. Sweets include brigadeiros (cocoa and condensed-milk truffles), quindim (a glossy coconut and egg-yolk custard) and bolo de cenoura, a carrot cake with a chocolate glaze. Many padarias also take orders for party trays of salgados and decorated cakes with brigadeiro filling.
Ordering for a crowd
Both traditions shine at parties. Portuguese bakeries sell trays of custard tarts and sweet bread rounds; Brazilian padarias sell salgados by the hundred, often frozen for you to fry or bake at home. A day or two of notice is usually enough, but give more time before Easter, Christmas and Brazilian holidays.
