On 16 January, the Official Journal of the European Union placed the certification awarded in public consultation for three months, before registering it in the European Union's Protected Geographical Indications register.

“Local know-how, the result of a long tradition of ancient practices, is perhaps the 'key' that distinguishes the way in which Pastel de Feijão de Torres Vedras is made and which has given this pastry shop its great reputation”, it is stated.

The distinctive features of this pastry are the “thin, crispy, translucent layer, which is not puff pastry”, the spongy filling, in which the almond flavour stands out, and the fact that it is sold wrapped in greaseproof paper, which “also maintains the flavour and qualities of the pastry”.

“The certification is important in order to exist a quality seal that protects the brand so that consumers can easily identify the quality of the sweet,” João Esteveira, president of the Commercial and Industrial Association of the Western Region (ACIRO), responsible for the certification request, told Lusa. The process was initiated in 2013 by ACIRO and the Municipality of Torres Vedras, in the district of Lisbon.

Once certification is obtained, “companies will have a product whose quality is certified, which brings economic added value to manufacturers,” he added. In the municipality, there are around 30 manufacturers, of which 20 participated in the certification process.

It is estimated that there is an annual production of at least 1.5 million bean pastries, with a return of half a million euros to the local economy. These numbers may increase in the future with the certification after several manufacturers have started sales to hypermarkets and exporting the product.

Judging by the ingredients used in its preparation, the sweet probably had conventual origins, but it went beyond the confines of the convents and became secular. The production of bean pastries in Torres Vedras began at the end of the 19th century, in the home of a woman who later began selling them.

The business was passed on to her descendants, and several companies were created. Even at the end of the 19th century, it was considered the typical sweet of Torres Vedras. Not even the difficulties in supplying food products caused by various crises, the two world wars, and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, caused production to stop or sales to slow down.

Among the oldest historical records, it is mentioned that, in 1896, it was one of the 38 sweets included in the Portuguese Ethnographic Exhibition, integrated into the program of the exhibition commemorating the fourth centenary of Vasco da Gama's first voyage to India.

Torres Vedras’s Pastel de Feijão appears in several national publications as being one of the traditional Portuguese products. It is a small pastry made with sugar, almonds, beans and egg yolk, ingredients to which flour and margarine are added for the filling. Once prepared, it is baked in the oven.