Since the opening of Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém, the original recipe of the pastel de nata is kept in a secret room. The descendants own the business to this day. In 1834, the monastery was closed and the recipe sold to the sugar refinery, whose owners in 1837 opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. In the aftermath of the Liberal Revolution of 1820, following the dissolution of religious orders and in the face of the impending closure of many convents and monasteries, the monks started selling pastéis de nata at a nearby sugar refinery to bring in revenue. It was quite common for monasteries and convents to use the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries, resulting in the proliferation of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country. At the time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching clothes, such as friars and nuns' religious habits.

Pastéis de nata were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Hieronymites Monastery ( Portuguese: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) in the civil parish of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, in Lisbon. History Pastel de nata (locally knows as tart telur Portugis) in Malaysia In Indonesia, this pastry is especially popular in Kampung Tugu, Jakarta, a culturally Portuguese ( Mardijker) enclave. The Macanese pastel de nata has been adopted by KFC and is available in regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Outside Portugal, they are particularly popular in other parts of Western Europe, Asia and former Portuguese colonies, such as Brazil, Mozambique, Macau, Goa and East Timor. Pastel de nata ( Portuguese pronunciation: (plural: pastéis de nata )) or Pastel de Belém is a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, optionally dusted with cinnamon.

Portuguese or chinese egg tart