Meet the Macao pastry chef reviving Portugal’s pastéis de nata

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Meet the Macao pastry chef reviving Portugal’s pastéis de nata  As Macao’s food landscape shifts with new businesses and new residents, one Portuguese baker is helping redefine a local favourite.  In partnership with Macao Government Tourism Office  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/27/meet-the-macao-pastry-chef-reviving-portugals-pasteis-de-nata  Spark your senses, wake your wonder. Euronews Culture seeks to show creativity in action and inspire our audience to explore the world through the five senses. Start your journey through the best of Europe's arts, gastronomy, traditions and high-end craftsmanship.

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00:00I learned from Macau that I need to be open-minded to new opportunities and as Macau is growing so

00:10should you grow as a person and always try to improve yourself. Walking by the streets you

00:18see the Portuguese style buildings and the road but at the same time you have the sinus and

00:23different culture of Macau and even Chinese culture coming through so it's familiar but

00:32it's different at the same time it's a mixture of the cultures. My name is Pedro Quintanero I come

00:41from Aveiro, Portugal and I'm 34 years old and I've been in Macau for about 10 years a little more

00:49now. What brings me here is it's a funny story because Macau keeps calling me I come here first

00:56time for an internship and a few years after a friend of mine called me for me to come help him

01:02working here I come and since then I stay I met my wife and now it's very hard to go back to Europe

01:10for even Portugal. One day it was just a regular day I went to get my breakfast. Yoga happened to

01:20ever to be there at his coffee shop so we start talking how his business this and that he sensed

01:26that I was not happy at my previous jobs and then he present me the project of the Mantegria and the

01:34Portuguese product and I as a proud Portuguese it makes me happy to work and represent Portugal making

01:42the original pastry. As a head pastry chef here I mostly supervise and teach the new ways and make

01:54sure the product is up to standard right. What I feel the most even with any customer is the first bite

02:01is a surprise right because they are expecting to be a local egg tart or even the Portuguese come they

02:09get surprised because they can taste the Portuguese flavor. I would say egg tarts are just an inspiration

02:15by the Castellanata. It's two different products you cannot say it's the same thing. Our pastry is more

02:21flaky is more buttery our cream is not like egg texture is going to be creamy.

02:31First time I came to Macau I thought it was a new world because I come from the rural area and I was

02:41dropped off in Kotai side but when I come to Macau side I felt whoa this is like Lisbon especially Senade Square

02:50if you walk beneath the Liberdade and Senade Square is exactly the same so it brings a sense of nostalgia and

02:58and also a little piece of home to the people living here. My favorite place in Macau would be even the from the Senado Square to the

03:08San Lazarus Church you can just walk the direction and you'll find yourself I mean it's a very tourist place so I like to go

03:18around. From the São Paulo ruins all the Portuguese little streets you can see the influence and the mixture of the cultures

03:29yeah because you can see the Portuguese buildings and the roads but at the same

03:34sign you see all the signs and the local way of living right

03:41after work life right now it's mostly family life I'm very glad that I have a Portuguese community here as I raise a child

04:07I'm very glad that I have a Portuguese community here as I raise a child so I can have little

04:13support from my own community here.

04:23I like to bring my family to the lake and even walk the dog since we're going out and

04:30he needs some fresh air as well.

04:35I think today for me home will be both, right?

04:40I have my parents in Portugal so it's always going to be there for me and I know if anything

04:46happens is my safe point, right?

04:49But also as I start a family here I cannot imagine leaving Macau.

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