美国国家公共电台 NPR Only 6 People In The World Know The Recipe For Portugal's Famous Tarts

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

From Coca-Cola to Kentucky Fried Chicken, heavily guarded secret recipes are the key ingredient to some of the world's most famous culinary success stories. In Portugal, one family has been keeping the original recipe for the country's favorite dessert a secret for generations. It's a flaky egg custard tart¹. And while imitations can be found in just about any Portuguese² bakery, Rebecca Rosman visited the shop where it all started and sent this report.

REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE³: It's only midday, but already the Antiga Confeitaria de Belem has sold nearly 10,000 of its famous pasteis de Belem.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Portuguese).

ROSMAN: By the time the shop closes, they'll have sold 20,000 of the warm, flaky custard tarts⁴ all made in-house with great care.

MIGUEL CLARINHA: This is what we call in Portuguese the secret room.

ROSMAN: Owner Miguel Clarinha points to a large door in the back of the kitchen which I'm not allowed to enter. That's because behind it, three entrusted⁵ chefs are kneading huge slabs⁶ of the famous buttery and flaky dough⁷. Aside from the owners, these three men are the only people in the world who know this recipe.

CLARINHA: Their names are Ramiro, Carlos and Vitor. The three of them have been working here for a long time - over 40 years. And they got to be chefs because they were good bakers⁸, and also because they were someone that management trusted.

ROSMAN: While imitations known as pasteis de nata can be found all over Portugal - all over the world, really - these are called pasteis de Belem named for the neighborhood where they were invented and still baked today. Once the dough is made, it's cut into thin slices and hand-stretched onto individual round molds. After getting a pump of egg cream filling, the pastries⁹ are placed in a 750 degree Fahrenheit¹⁰ oven for 20 minutes.

CLARINHA: And after those 20 minutes, we're going to put them on a table for them to cool just enough to get them out of the molds and take them to our customers.

ROSMAN: This is my first one. It's - ooh (ph), it's still warm.

(SOUNDBITE OF CRUNCH)

ROSMAN: It's delicious. Ooh, I've got some of the pastry¹¹ on my microphone (laughter).

Tourists and locals alike fill just about every inch of the spacious¹² blue and white-tiled bakery located just outside Lisbon. Giles Williams first came to the shop on holiday from London 20 years ago. On his latest trip, he says he knew exactly where he was taking his friends once they landed at the airport.

GILES WILLIAMS: I said as soon as we got to Lisbon, this is what I want to do. So every time I come to Lisbon, I come here probably within about the first two hours 'cause they're just the best.

ROSMAN: And they have a holy history. The secret recipe for the pasteis was given to the shop from the neighboring Jeronimos Monastery¹³, where the tarts were first invented in the 18th century. Miguel Clarinha says monks¹⁴ would use egg whites to start their clothing, and the leftover¹⁵ yolks became dessert.

CLARINHA: And it was only after 1820 when the monasteries¹⁶ were closed following a liberal revolution here in Portugal that the recipe was passed on to a businessman that used what used to be a sugar refinery¹⁷ to keep on making the cakes and started selling them at a small trading shop that existed where our front counter exists today.

ROSMAN: In the early 20th century, the shop was passed down to Miguel's family. They've been overseeing operations for four generations, a detail he thinks has made just as big a difference as the secret recipe.

CLARINHA: I think if this wasn't a family-owned business it would probably have expanded. The cakes would probably start being frozen and exported and franchised¹⁸. And that's really not our philosophy. We'd rather focus on the quality and on the place itself. And, yeah, it's a lot of work, but it pays off whenever you see a customer smiling or saying good words about the place.

ROSMAN: Customers also say they don't need to know the secret kept behind that closed door. For NPR News, I'm Rebecca Rosman in Belem, Portugal.

1 tart   

adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇

参考例句：

• She was learning how to make a fruit tart in class.她正在课上学习如何制作水果馅饼。
• She replied in her usual tart and offhand way.她开口回答了，用她平常那种尖酸刻薄的声调随口说道。

2 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 tarts   

n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞

参考例句：

• I decided to make some tarts for tea. 我决定做些吃茶点时吃的果馅饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They ate raspberry tarts and ice cream. 大家吃着木莓馅饼和冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

5 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

7 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

8 bakers   

n.面包师( baker的名词复数 )；面包店；面包店店主；十三

参考例句：

• The Bakers have invited us out for a meal tonight. 贝克一家今晚请我们到外面去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bakers specialize in catering for large parties. 那些面包师专门负责为大型宴会提供食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

10 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

11 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

12 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

13 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

14 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

16 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。

17 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

18 franchised   

v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is starting the first school himself,but subsequent ones will be franchised to use the Fujita method. 他已经自己开办了第一所学校，但是以后的学校将被特许使用富士达方法。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Driving tests for franchised bus are held on request by bus companies. 专营巴士的驾驶考试只在巴士公司要求下才举行。 来自互联网