Nazaré Támares

Also known as: Támares · Tamarês · Little Boats of Nazaré

A little sweet boat carrying both the sea and the convent in a single spoonful.

Origin: Traditional Nazaré confectionery · Cistercian convent influence from the nearby Terras de Cister
Region: Nazaré
Season: Year-round

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Támares are small boat-shaped pastries, true to the fishing village that gave them birth. The thin, golden shell closes over a generous filling of doce de ovos — that dense, luminous, yolk-coloured paste that is the hallmark of Portuguese convent confectionery.

They are served tiny, barely a bite or two, lined up in the windows of Nazaré's pastry shops alongside their table companions: the nazarenos, the foquins and the celebrated sardinhas doces. They are eaten by hand at the counter, between a coffee and a conversation, or taken away in a box for dessert, gleaming beneath a thin coat of syrup glaze.

This is a sweet modest in form and opulent in filling — the kind of pastry that captures, in a single mouthful, the sugary soul of the Oeste.

Ingredients

Egg yolks
Sugar
Water
Almond or flour (in the pastry case)
Butter
Eggs (in the dough)
Lemon zest
Glaze or jelly for shine

Taste & texture

Intensely sweet and velvety, the egg filling melting against a tender, faintly buttery case; a whisper of lemon cuts through the richness of the yolk.

Variations

Every Nazaré bakery has its own touch: some támares have a thinner, almond-rich case, others a firmer pastry, finished with a glossy glaze or a single almond on top. They are close cousins of the village's other egg sweets — nazarenos, foquins and sweet sardines.

Where to try it

Found in the traditional bakeries and confectioners of Nazaré, especially around the Praia and up in the Sítio quarter, displayed alongside the village's other typical sweets. It is a local-made treat, rarely found beyond the region.

Pairs well with

Calls for a short espresso or, in keeping with regional tradition, a small glass of Óbidos ginja (sour-cherry liqueur) or almond liqueur.

History

Nazaré's confectionery draws on its proximity to the Terras de Cister and the convents that, over centuries, made the egg yolk the raw material of an opulent pastry-making tradition. From this inheritance sprang a family of egg sweets with names tied to the sea — sardinhas, foquins, nazarenos — and among them the támares, moulded in the shape of a boat as a tribute to the trade of the village.

The little-boat format became the local confectionery's defining emblem, kept alive by the pastry shops of the town that maintain the repertoire of typical Nazaré sweets. Detailed historical documentation is scarce, but the támare remains firmly associated with Nazaré as one of its most recognisable treats.

Sources: turismodocentro.pt · cantinhodocinho.blogspot.com · tradicoesdoces.com · tasteoflisboa.com

Pastries from here — The West

Friends of Peniche

Areias Brancas

Arroubo Grape-Must Preserve

Cavacas das Caldas