The Wonderful World of Egg Tarts蛋撻的美妙世界

The egg tart is a delicious pastry-based snack loved the world over， but what is the origin of this much-adored dessert？ It appears that the egg tart’s origin story lies in the Europe.

蛋撻是在全世界都廣受喜愛的美味酥皮點心，但這集萬千寵愛的甜點從何而來？蛋撻的起源故事似乎源于歐洲。

Egg tarts were actually invented in either Portugal or England many centuries ago. Historical records suggest that they were served at the coronation of King Henry IV of England in 1399. Even further back in history， in the 1200s， Portuguese monks at Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon are believed to have started making egg tarts using egg yolks after previously encountering various delicious pastries in France.

蛋撻其實是在好幾個世紀前，由葡萄牙或英國發明的。據歷史記載，蛋撻在1399年于英格蘭國王亨利四世的加冕典禮上供應過。再更久遠一點至13世紀，有人認為在葡萄牙里斯本熱羅尼莫斯修道院的修士，過去在法國接觸到各種美味的糕點后，便開始使用蛋黃制作蛋撻。

Fast-forward to 1820， and monks at the same monastery began selling egg tarts to a nearby sugar refinery to sustain the monastery. Unfortunately， due to a changing political climate in Portugal， the monastery eventually closed down in 1834 and sold their recipe to the owner of the refinery， which subsequently transformed into a bakery. There， you can still buy egg tarts made using the original recipe.

時間轉到1820年，同間修道院的修士開始販賣蛋撻給鄰近的糖廠以支撐修道院。不幸的是，由于葡萄牙政治局勢的變化，該修道院最終于1834年關閉，他們便將蛋撻的烹飪法賣給糖廠老板，那間糖廠后來變成了一間面包店。在那里，你仍可以買到用最初的烹飪法制成的蛋撻。

Regarding how the egg tart came to Asia， it is likely to have been introduced to China when Portuguese sailors first arrived in Guangzhou in 1513. Much later in the 1840s， tea restaurants offering Western dishes began popping up after World War II. There they created modifications of egg tarts， French toast and even milk tea. These restaurants continue to thrive.

關于蛋撻是如何傳至亞洲，可能是葡萄牙水手在1513年首次登陸廣州時傳入中國。在很久以后的19世紀40年代，提供西式餐點的茶餐廳開始出現。他們做出蛋撻、法式吐司甚至奶茶的改良版。這些餐廳至今仍生意興隆。

This， in a nutshell， is the brief history of the egg tart. The most certain thing is that no matter where you believe egg tarts came from， once you start eating them， you won’t be able to stop.

簡而言之，這就是蛋撻的簡史。最能確定的是，不管你認為蛋撻源起何處，一旦你開始吃蛋撻，就停不下來了。

Word Bank

coronation /'k?r?'ne??n/ n. 加冕；加冕典禮

modification /'m?d?f?'ke??n/ n. 修改；改進；改變

thrive /θra?v/ v. 興旺發達；繁榮；蓬勃發展

New businesses thrive in this area.

in a nutshell? 簡而言之；用簡明的話