The Public’s Radio South Coast Bureau Reporter Ben Berke visited the winner – Goulart Square Bakery in New Bedford – and sampled the fare. He’s come back with a story that’s sweeter than any of the pastries he tried.
This story was produced for the ear. Press the orange play button below to listen. You can also read the transcript.
[Sounds of whisking.]
That’s the sound of Abel Afonso working a huge whisk with both hands. He just eyeballed a heavy pour of vanilla extract into a giant mixing bowl of yellow cream.
On a normal weekday shift, Abel clocks in around midnight to start laminating the dough that surrounds this cream filling. But on the day I visit, Abel’s working an extra afternoon shift. He’s busier than usual. The news about Goulart Square winning the first Pastel de Nata throwdown has been spreading around town, and Abel’s been called in to make an additional 400 natas.
A line of customers cycles through the bakery’s front door. The bakery is on a corner where a neighborhood of wooden tenements opens onto a big park.
Inside, there’s a pastry counter, a rack for Portuguese breads and a fridge with fresh cheese and caçoila — a tangy pulled pork.
In line, there are newcomers who just heard about the contest mixing with regulars and local restaurant owners. A couple of police officers walk in after investigating a shooting nearby. They order their partner his first nata.
Abel, the nocturnal baker, isn’t surprised that his natas won the contest. He’s been making them for almost 50 years — he started working as a baker in a village in northern Portugal when he was 12.
Abel says there are no secret ingredients in his natas, just the usual suspects: flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, vanilla. I ask Abel what makes his natas different, and a younger pastry chef helps translate.
Abel Afonso: It’s the way I work the dough, not particularly the ingredients.
Abel’s natas won a blowout victory in the contest over 8 other bakeries in Fall River and New Bedford. Two-hundred and seventy-three voters picked Goulart Square as their favorite. The runner-up had almost 100 fewer votes. 
Fall River and New Bedford are just 15 miles apart. And, according to the Census Bureau, they’re the two most Portuguese cities in the United States. So, winning a pastel de nata contest around here is kind of a big deal.
The owner of Goulart Square, Susana Gaspar, thinks it’s a sign from heaven. Her husband Jose, who started the bakery in 1977, died just six months ago.
Susana Gaspar: I think he had a little something to do with it up in heaven. I think he’s very proud.
Gaspar met her husband during her first shift at the bakery as a cashier in 1987.
Gaspar: If you believe in love at first sight, it was love at first sight when me and my husband saw each other.
After they got married, Susana and Jose Gaspar moved into the apartment above the bakery. Susana still lives there, but now she works 12-hour days at the bakery on her own. Baking, she says, is a way of honoring the love of her life.
Gaspar: We worked together for 34 years and we’re soulmates so it was very hard. But he’s with me. He’s here. He’s in the bakery, so yeah.
As I’m holding back tears, Abel comes in to tell me the natas are ready.
After ten minutes in the oven, they look beautiful. The crust is flaky, like a good croissant. On top, bubbles of burnt sugar add depth to the sweetness. Abel sprinkles on cinnamon.
On the inside, the egg cream hasn’t curdled at all. It’s dense and smooth and sweet — just the way I like it.
For The Public’s Radio, I’m Ben Berke.
