Keeping traditional Portuguese flavors authentic while cooking in Macau is a task that seems difficult to some. Others decide to take different approaches to Portuguese traditional food by adapting it to a different audience – the Asian customer.
But there are exceptions, and some of the local entrepreneurs have started to see the advantages of “keeping traditional food authentic.” That seems to be the case of chef Pedro Almeida and his local partner, who they decided to bring to Macau the centenary tastes of northern Portugal through a snack that has existed for more than 150 years.
This idea was the genesis of “Pasteis de Chaves – Macau,” a snack shop located at Travessa da Se a few steps away from the tourist-filled Senado Square in central Macau.
The shop sells precisely the “Pastel de Chaves,” a snack originating from the city of Chaves in Northern Portugal in 1862.
This flaky pastry is very popular in the Portuguese district of Vila Real, and was traditionally made using a minced beef-based filling. Despite staying faithful to its roots, the pastry has evolved and modern recipes include new fillings such as chicken, codfish and even sweet flavors.
Opened just a couple of months ago, the business has been running as expected, business partner and chef Almeida told the Times, revealing that the small business is part of a bigger plan that aims to bring traditional Portuguese flavors to the region.
“My partner, who is also a major stakeholder, is local, but he believes a lot in the potential of Portuguese products. The ‘Pasteis de Chaves’ was the second (out of four planned) projects under the motto of 100 percent Portuguese. There are two more projects underway but I can say we will continue this path of respecting the Portuguese traditional gastronomy and not create mixed or fusion cuisines of any kind,” Almeida said. “We are trying to create something here with strong roots. We are taking this slowly and calmly, and as the shop is owned by us we do not need to submit to the extreme pressure [unlike many others] to pay the rent.”
This advantageous position has given the chef more freedom to try to follow the trends in Portugal and bring them to Macau:
“We can play a little, we can experiment with new flavors. Namely, we are about to start to make one sweet flavor, as we have many visitors that enter the shop and ask if that is a ‘sweet snack’ and many give up coming when they know there isn’t.” As with the savory beef and chicken flavors, the “sweet one will also be made with products from Portugal and that can deliver Portuguese authenticity [in taste].”
“We aim to keep the quality and that’s why we are producing small quantities, although we have the capacity to produce more and accept more orders. We choose not to as we want to go slowly and step-by-step.”
Responsible for faithfully recreating the northern Portuguese snack, Almeida told the Times, “I was born in Chaves and I’m a chef. I had an idea already how the pastries were made but still I went to a special training in Chaves and when returned I started to produce it here.”
Although acknowledging that there are other “Pasteis de Chaves” already on the market in Macau that come directly from Portugal frozen, the ones sold at this shop are made locally.
“We started to produce the ‘Pastel de Chaves’ in a ‘bite size’ version due to the shop location and the fact that most people that visit us want to try several different things, while the traditional size [in Portugal] is a bit bigger.”
Currently, the best seller continues to be the traditional “beef flavor” but the chicken is also a good option “as there are many people that do not eat beef.” Coming soon will be the novelty of the sweet pastry that will be made with “fig leaf gourd.”
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