(Photo from wikipedia)
Not the voyages of Vasco da Gama, not the naval science of Henry the Navigator, not the discovery of Brazil. The signal achievement that ranks Portugal among the foremost of nations is ...
Sometime in the 18th century, a holy spirit descended and entered nuns from the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém near Lisbon. The inspiration led them to the heavenly creation of pastel de nata, the cinnamon custard tart.
Today the traveler enters the shrine of
Casa Pasteis de Belem
with due reverence. After an appropriate offering is placed in the collection plate, theofficiating cleric serves
the blessed host
to the supplicant. The experience of consuming the pastel is ineffable -- blogging about it would be profane. All I will say is that the pastel should always be followed by a serving of thealmost equally divine bica.
The Lisbon Album
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| 2008-PortS |
2 comments:
I would worship at the shrine of Casa de Pasteis daily - inspirational!
Love the blog. Karen Rozzell
Mmmm...those look really good. It's a good thing I'm not in Portugal right now, I guess, I would have a hard time not entering a fit of devotion. I might even have to be born again.
Ha- ineffable tarts.
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