Al-Nata Bakery, the retail subsidiary of Europate Catering Company (WLL,) is specialized in pastries that are “Inspired in Portugal. Produced in Kuwait.”
For Ramadan they introduced some new flavors and we were lucky enough to receive two boxes of the delicious pastries, which are traditional pastries with Ramadan flavor twists.
The two boxes contained an array of goodies including a fig curd and tempered milk chocolate slab claudino, a cardamom and tempered white chocolate slab claudino, a fig curd and milk chocolate glazed éclair, and a cardamom éclair dipped in white chocolate.
The claudinos looked too good to eat, with crispy puff pastry layers going from a light beige to a golden color, but who am I kidding? No one was going to resist tasting them.
The first bite into the chocolate and fig claudino made all the layers of puff pastry break and crumble into my mouth in small crunchy pieces and the fig curd oozed out each side. The ever-so-slight saltiness of the puff pastry, combined with the hint of tanginess from the fig curd and the sweetness of the chocolate created a heavenly mix of components that compliment each other in every way possible.
The white chocolate and cardamom claudino was just as good, if not better. The puff pastry on the outside is perfectly crispy, while on the inside it has a slightly more chewy texture. The claudino fillings are sweet, so it’s a good thing the puff pastry is not entirely sweet as that creates an ideal balance.
The éclairs had a light and chewy texture, with delectable and more than generous fillings inside. The milk chocolate glaze and white chocolate dip acted as perfect accents to the éclair stuffings.
Other items on their menu include a panna cotta claudino infused with lemon grass, a Snow White blueberry éclair, palmiers that are either plain with a caster sugar coating or a dark chocolate dip, and a Crème Brule claudino that was in the Nestle Docello Purple Box Challenge at the Kuwait Food Festival and won second place.
Al-Nata is owned and operated by its two founders, Ahmad Jamal Jafar and Miguel Vidinha Da Costa. Their original concept revolved around the Portuguese puff pastry known as pasteis de nata. The name, when said in Arabic also sounds like a Kuwaiti word meaning “delicious,” hence Al-Nata was born. They use no preservatives, additives or artificial coloring in their pastries, and always strive to use the freshest ingredients.
Al Nata are available in Sultan Center, on Talabat and through their website.
