The true tastes of Portugal, in such sweet bites

“THESE must be incredibly labor intensive,� says my companion, an inquisitive home cook, as she unfurls a thin strip of pastry to examine the multilayered shell of her nata.

The tiny custard tart, formally known as pasteis de nata, is renowned in Portugal for the way its egg-rich creme brulee-like filling contrasts with the sumptuous crackle of a parchment-textured shell. How do they stay crisp? we ask each other, reaching for yet another in the name of culinary research.

We have devoured nearly a dozen natas while sitting at L.A.’s only Portuguese bakery, Natas Pastries (named for the confection), which opened about a year ago in Sherman Oaks. Owner Fatima Marques, a Portuguese native and longtime Los Angeles resident, probably could have taken shortcuts in developing the recipes for the pastries, desserts and savories that fill her cases. Instead, the former marketing director was meticulous in authentically reproducing the sweets she grew up loving -- apprenticing in Portugal, retrofitting an oven to heat to the necessary 750 degrees, acquiring special pans and importing ingredients.

The bakery’s location in a nondescript minimall across from a car wash belies the old-world warmth of its interior. Dark woods and blue and white Portuguese tiles cover the walls. An espresso machine sits at the ready and the aroma of small savories in their warming boxes scents the air. There are rissois, delicate shrimp and crab turnovers, heartier meat and chorizo croquettes and pasteis de bacalhau, Portugal’s answer to crab cakes made with dried codfish.

With just a few tables outside the front door, you can’t really call Natas a cafe. But you can make a simple lunch of savory pastries and sandwiches made with freshly baked pao-doce, the Portuguese sweet bread, filled with ham or turkey and melted cheese. The flavors of the salty ingredients in the sweet bread remind me of a croque monsieur.

After a light meal you’ll be ready to sample the egg custard natas. These are the originals, but the shop also makes the tarts with an intense dark chocolate custard sprinkled with nuts, sweet shredded coconut and double custard (soft over baked) topped with coconut. There’s also a version with a crushed almond and caramel filling called pasteis de feijao.

The nata’s close relative, queijada, has a subtly sweet, cheesecake-like ricotta filling lightly flavored with cinnamon. And the confection of choice in southern Portugal, a morgado, or almond pastry, is wonderful here, not too sweet, its buttery short crust filled with light, fragrant almond paste, redolent of freshly crushed nuts.

Hawaiians and Portuguese Americans with roots in the Azores islands will enjoy discovering the bakery’s fabulous malasadas (available Friday through Sunday). The yeast-leavened doughnuts, brought to Hawaii by immigrants in the late 1800s, are eggy, moist and more substantial than a glazed doughnut yet lighter than most cake doughnut styles. Made from the same fried dough is the voluptuous bola de Berlin, filled with a soft, wonderfully gooey vanilla custard that sinks into the crevices of the cake as you eat it.

The cold case holds spoonable desserts in individual cups. Doce de casa, seen in every cafe and confeitaria in Portugal, has layers of vanilla creme under chocolate cookies topped with chocolate mousse and a pouf of whipped cream.

There’s also a selection of European-style layer cakes such as Sacher torte or sweet lemon layer cake drizzled with rose water. They serve two; larger sizes can be ordered.

These are beautifully made but what I journey across town for is the true taste of Portugal found nowhere else in the city.

*

Natas Pastries

Location: 13317 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 788-8050.

Price: Sandwiches, $3.50; natas, $2 each, $5.25 for 3, $15 for 9, $25 for 16; bola de Berlin, $2.50; morgado, $3; croquette, $2; mousses, $3.50.

Best dishes: Natas, bola de Berlin, morgado, chocolate mousse.

Details: Open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Visa and MasterCard. Lot parking.