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FijiFlavors · Tomar
Slices of egg yolks beaten for a long time, cooked in a bain-marie in a special pan and soaked in sugar syrup. A convent sweet from Tomar, traditionally linked to the Convento de Cristo.
Traditional sweet from Tomar, Santarém
Also known as: Fatias da China
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Fatias de Tomar — Tomar, Portugal
The slices of Tomar are made almost entirely from egg yolks. Beaten by hand for about an hour, the yolks form a light batter that is baked in a covered oval mold, in a bain-marie. After baking, the batter is cut into slices which are plunged into boiling sugar syrup. The result has the shape of a slice of bread, a soft and moist texture and an intense eggy flavor.
The sweet relies on a special pan, made of tin, with a chimney through which boiling water is added to keep the mold submerged during cooking. According to local tradition, that pan is made in Tomar, which makes the sweet difficult to reproduce elsewhere.
The official catalogue of Portuguese traditional products, from the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, links the recipe to the Templar convent of Tomar and cites the critic José Quitério, who considered the slices to belong to the Templar borough. The first written reference with this name appears in a cookbook from 1876, and by 1928 the sweet was already described as a specialty of the Tomar region. The exact place and date of creation are unknown; legend has it that it was the preferred dessert of the friars of the Convento de Cristo.
Tomar has a long tradition of egg-yolk sweets, and the municipality has promoted conventual pastry fairs together with the city’s bakeries. Alongside the slices appear other local sweets, such as beija-me depressa and queijinhos doces.
The slices are also sold in sealed glass jars with the syrup, which makes them easy to take away. They are served as a dessert or with tea.
Tomar , Santarém
Convent sweet from Tomar registered in the official catalogue of traditional products; the special pan to cook it is made in the city.
Egg yolks and sugar syrup.
In slices, with the syrup, as a dessert or served with tea. They are also sold in glass jars with syrup.
All year round.
Your questions
Almost entirely from egg yolks, beaten for a long time, cooked in a bain-marie and then soaked in sugar syrup.
The batter is cooked in a covered mold inside a tin pan with a chimney, through which boiling water is added to keep the mold submerged. According to local tradition, that pan is made in Tomar.
Tradition links them to the Templar convent of Tomar and says they were the preferred dessert of the friars of the Convento de Cristo. The exact place and date of their creation are unknown; the first written reference dates from 1876.
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