Egg tarts around the world: a brief survey
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When I was in Hamburg, Germany a few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to come upon a pastry shop that sold egg tarts warm out of the oven. They were just divine! I think they were called pastéis de nata from the term used for them in Portugal, which seems to be the homeland (or one of the homelands) of this heavenly dessert. Here the word pastéis is translated into English as "pastels", but it's something altogether different from the art medium, and it has a broad spectrum of manifestations as different types of pies and cakes.
Pastéis de nata were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Jerónimos Monastery (Portuguese: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, in Lisbon. These monks were originally based in France where these pastries could be found in local bakeries. At the time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching clothes, such as nuns' habits. 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.
The egg tart or custard tart is not to be confused with the custard pie, which has other ingredients beside milk, eggs, sugar, and salt added in, hence we have pumpkin pie, lemon and buttermilk chess pie, and coconut custard pie, etc., all of which are variants of custard pie. The custard pie is the projectile of choice in the time-(dis)honored prank of pieing.
The earlier history of the egg custard tart goes back to old French croustade.
The development of custard is so intimately connected with the custard tart or pie that the word itself comes from the old French croustade, meaning a kind of pie. Some other names for varieties of custard tarts in the Middle Ages were doucettes and darioles. In 1399, the coronation banquet prepared for Henry IV included "doucettys"
Close relatives of the custard tart and custard pie are flans pâtissier or just flans.
One of my favorite foods in Taiwan when I was living there between 1970 and 1972 was always dàntǎ 蛋塔, which looks like it means "egg stupa" (< zútǎpó 卒塔婆 / tǎpó 塔婆 < Skt. stūpa स्तूप / Pali thūpa), but in Hong Kong they are called dàntà ( daan6 taat3*1 蛋挞 / 撻 ("custard / egg tart"), where the taat1 挞 / 撻 (literally "flog; chastise") comes from "tart". I suspect that dàntǎ 蛋塔 ("egg stupa") is an attempt by non-Cantonese speakers to make the name seem more rational from a Sinitic point of view, as though the shape of an egg tart somewhat resembles a stupa, which, by the way, basically means "heap" in Sanskrit.
Borrowed from Old French tarte (“flat pastry”) (Modern French tarte), from tourte, from Vulgar Latin *torta, from torta (“twisted”) panis (“bread”), from feminine of Latin tortus (“twisted, folded over”). Cognate to torta.
[VHM: This tart that is a type of pastry is a completely separate word from the homographs that mean "sharp; acrid; sour" and "prostitute; woman of loose sexual morals" (see Wiktionary).
When I travelled in Central Asia during the 80s and 90s, I was always amused that "tart" became "tort" in languages like Uzbek and Uyghur, since in English "tort" is a type of civil wrong in common law jurisdictions.]
In Taipei, we lived back an alley off Hsin-sheng Nan Lu, which ran along the western side of National Taiwan University. On Sunday mornings, we'd get up fairly early, have a bowl of congee*, and walk westward along Ho-ping Tung Lu toward National Taiwan Normal University. When we were almost there, we'd start to smell the most heavenly aroma wafting from a bakery on the left side of the street. It was one of the few shops that were open on Sunday at that hour. We would follow our noses into the bakery and order half a dozen dàntǎ 蛋塔 straight out of the oven, and then slowly gorge ourselves on these sinfully delicious sweets. On those days, there was no need to eat lunch.
To come full circle back to Philadelphia, we are blessed to have in our Chinatown the wonderful Bǎobǐng wū 飽餅屋 (I’m not sure of its English name), located on Race Street between N 10th Street and N 11th Street. Their danta are excellent, and if you go there late in the afternoon, you can get them extra cheap.
*Readings
"Chinese restaurant shorthand, part 2" 11/30/16
"Chinese restaurant shorthand, part 3" 2/25/17
"Congee: the Dravidian roots of the name for a Chinese dish" (11/13/17)
[Thanks to Yixue Yang]
Eugene Volokh said,
September 22, 2018 @ 2:11 pm
I wonder whether "tort" in Uzbek may come from the Russian "tort," which is the standard term for most large cakes (and which in turn likely comes from the other terms mentioned in the etymology you quote).
Bloix said,
September 22, 2018 @ 2:20 pm
Pastéis is the plural of pastel. At least in Portuguese. It's possible that Germans use pastéis for both, i don't know.
Victor Mair said,
September 22, 2018 @ 3:48 pm
@Eugene Volokh
I think you're right that "tort" in Uzbek and other Central Asian languages comes via Russian. A lot of words of European origin in Central Asian languages entered them from Russian, e.g., moshina ("car") < машина < Middle French machine < Latin māchina (“a machine, engine, contrivance, device, stratagem, trick”) < Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhanā́), cognate with Attic Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhanḗ, “a machine, engine, contrivance, device”) > "mechanical". Conversely, many words of East Asian, Inner Asian, and Central Asian origin entered European languages via Russian, e.g., "mammoth"* and "horde"**.
*From obsolete Russian мамант (mamant), modern мамонт (mamont), probably from a Uralic language, such as Proto-Mansi *mē̮ŋ-ońt (“earth-horn”). Compare Northern Mansi ма̄ (mā, “earth”), а̄ньт (āńt, “horn”).
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mammoth
**Recorded in English since 1555. From Middle French horde, from German Horde, from Polish horda, from Russian орда (orda, “horde", 'clan, troop'”), which may come directly from Mongolian or from West Turkic (compare Tatar урда (urda, “horde”), Turkish ordu (“camp, army”), from Mongolian орду (ordu, “court, castle, royal compound, camp, horde”); akin to Kalmyk орда (orda), from Proto-Turkic *or- (“army, place of staying of the army, ruler etc.”).
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/horde
"Horde" is one of the few words of Xiongnu / pre-Hunnic origins that we know of, for which see:
"Of precious swords and Old Sinitic reconstructions, part 2" (3/12/16)
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24595
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4824#comment-387531
David L said,
September 22, 2018 @ 6:22 pm
The custard pie, when made for projectile use, is traditionally made with shaving cream.
Michael Watts said,
September 22, 2018 @ 8:47 pm
Then again…
Victor Mair said,
September 22, 2018 @ 11:57 pm
"another theory"
Michèle Sharik said,
September 23, 2018 @ 12:00 pm
Torte is a Multi-Layer cake in English.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torte
Ouen said,
September 24, 2018 @ 4:39 am
Something interesting to me about the way these tarts are markets in Taiwan is that they are not always described as Portuguese, but can be linked with any place in Europe that might attract customers. I think I’ve seen 法式蛋塔 more often than 葡萄牙式蛋塔 or 葡式蛋塔. The bakery GakuDen sells them as German 德式蛋塔. It’s possible that Taiwanese consumers have very little awareness of Portugal and much admiration for Germany and France.
Similarly anything in Taiwan can be sold as 日式 Japanese and it will be more appealing in the eyes of Taiwanese consumers. Proctor and gamble sell Ariel washing up liquid as a Japanese product, despite being originally sold in the UK and P&G not being a Japanese company, The above-mentioned bakery chain 樂田 Gakuden has a very Japanese sounding name, so you might assume that it’s a local branch of a Japanese enterprise, actually the bakery is only found in Taiwan as far as I’m aware.
Johannes Pong said,
September 24, 2018 @ 4:56 am
蛋塔 [daan6 taat1] "egg tarts" are now thoroughly Hong Kong, & is ubiquitous as a sweet dim sum item at all respectable tea houses. It should be the British version of the Portuguese originals, using a shortbread crust, is more eggy & less sweet than the Portuguese version.
葡塔 [pou4 taat1] "Portuguese tarts", on the other hand, were always available in Macau, became popular in HK the late 80s. By the 90s, they were everywhere & the preferred after school snack for teens looking for a sugar high. They're even available at KFC in HK. It uses a buttery flakey pastry crust, the egg custard is caramelised up top. The sugar levels are noticeably higher, though not as intense as authentic pastéis de Nata/ Belém in Portugal or Brazil.
Pou taat are still more eggy than custardy, & are rarely dusted with cinnamon like they are in the West.
Johannes Pong said,
September 24, 2018 @ 5:03 am
Sorry, amended 塔 to 撻.
Hong Kong 蛋撻 [daan6 taat1] "egg tarts" should have started as the British version of the Portuguese originals, using a shortbread crust, more eggy & less custardy or sweet than the Portuguese version. They are now thoroughly Hong Kong, & is ubiquitous as a pastry & sweet dim sum item at all tea houses & local bakeries, even the ones back on the mainland in Guangdong or any respectable Cantonese style tea house serving Cantonese style dim sum.
葡撻 [pou4 taat1] "Portuguese tarts", on the other hand, have been available in Macau, & became popular in HK the late 80s. By the 90s, they were everywhere & the preferred after school snack for teens looking for a sugar high. They're even available at KFC in HK. It uses a buttery flakey pastry crust, the egg custard is caramelised up top. The sugar levels are noticeably higher, though not as intense as authentic pastéis de Nata/ Belém in Portugal or Brazil.
Chinese [pou4 taat1] are still more eggy than custardy, & are rarely dusted with cinnamon as they are in the West.
stephen said,
September 24, 2018 @ 10:29 pm
My kindergarten teacher's name was Mrs. Tart. We had no idea that was anything other than a dessert. I wonder what her ancestors were up to? And I assume it was a conscious decision not to be teaching junior high.
James Wimberley said,
September 25, 2018 @ 12:01 pm
In my experience, you are more likely in Portugal to find the tarts called "pastéis de Belem" rather than "de nata". They have recently become more common in Spanish supermarkets on the freshly-baked shelf under the second name.
Xiao Yao said,
September 25, 2018 @ 12:03 pm
By far the finest egg tarts I've ever had were the Macau version of Pastéis de nata from Lord Stow's Bakery in Coloane, which I had the good fortune to come across in 1996 because I happened to walk by the shop.
I'd assumed these were a traditional recipe passed down as part of Macau's colonial heritage, but it turns out they were introduced there only after 1989 by Andrew Stow, an Englishman, who modeled them on tarts he tried in Portugal but developed his own recipe by trial and error.
So the wonderful Macanese pou4 taat1 葡撻 is actually English. How's that for illustrating the spirit of the original post!
/df said,
September 28, 2018 @ 4:42 am
Let's not forget the b'stilla (bəsṭila), a sort of sweetened flat circular pigeon filo pasty from Morocco and thereabouts, whose name (as well as 'pasty') is cognate with pastel. Eggs play a part in the filling, not just through their meaty precursor/successor.