The Pastel de Belém and the traditional pastel de nata come in first (4.7) and second (4.6) place, respectively, in the Taste Atlas guide, which considers our cake to be the best in the world.
Portugal thus has the best representation ever in terms of world pastry, ahead of the great classics, such as French pastry.
Taste Atlas continues to highlight national food
It’s not the first time that Taste Atlas has highlighted national gastronomy. In 2020, we were part of an interactive map of the best cheeses in the world, where we appeared with 14 distinctions.
This time, we’ve been lucky in pastry and, according to this renowned guide, Portugal has the best sweets in the world in a list of 50 different types of sweets.
And the biggest highlight goes to the fact that we have two cakes, similar but with recipes that distinguish them, at the top of the list: the iconic Pastel de Belém with a score of 4.7; and the more traditional Pastel de Nata just behind with 4.6.
According to the publication, the Pastel de Belém is a cake whose traditional recipe comes from the monks of the Jerónimos Monastery, since 1837, and only the Fábrica dos Pastéis de Belém knows how to make them that way.
Second place in this ranking goes to the other custard tarts, and Taste Atlas mentions some of our favorite places to try them: Manteigaria, Fábrica da Nata and Pastelaria Aloma, among others.
The other Portuguese cakes on the list
On this list you’ll also find other sweet delicacies that we’re used to eating.
For example, that cake that reminds us of the beach and summer, the Bola de Berlim, is in 52nd place, with a score of 4.3, dropping several places (in 2023 it was in 26th); the traditional Azorean cake Malasadas, which is a kind of berlin cake without cream, is also on this list, in 93rd; the delicious Travesseiros de Sintra are in 109th place; the Pastel de Tentúgal in 138th ; and the Papilho in 156th.
Taste Atlas defines the Bola de Berlim as a kind of filled doughnut and highlights Zé Natário, in Viana do Castelo, as the best place in Portugal to try it.
