This egg custard tart was smuggled through the Great Divide by the Zhang tribe.
The egg custard tart or egg tart[1] is a dessert widely coveted by Earth Kingdom citizens,[2] and it was also popular and cooked among the Air Nomads.[3][1] As the name implies, the tart is a baked pastry filled with egg custard.
History[]
According to King Bumi, the recipe for Omashu's egg tarts was learned from Earth Kingdom merchants after they returned home from exploring the world.[1] Jade's General Goods sold the dessert to customers in Omashu.[4]
While traversing the Great Divide together with the Zhangs and the Gan Jins, Avatar Aang discovered both tribes had smuggled food in defiance of the canyon guide's warnings. His outrage at this discovery dissipated, however, when he noticed that the Zhang tribe had brought at least one egg custard tart with them, the glimpse reminding him of how hungry he was. After successfully escaping the canyon, he asked where that custard tart was, stating he was "starving".[3]
After the end of the Hundred Year War, the egg custard tart was among the recipes that Avatar Aang attempted to reconstruct in order to keep the Air Nomad cuisine alive.[1]
Connection[]
The egg tart is a real-life dish that was introduced into China in the 20th century. An adaptation of the Portuguese pastel de nata, in which a round crust is filled with egg custard and baked, it came into mainland China via the colony of Macau.
Trivia[]
- The egg custard tart was Aang's favorite food,[5] though he claimed that the best kind were those from Omashu, where the crust was made from lychee nuts and with a smooth and silly custard inside.[1]
- The egg custard tart featured in "The Great Divide" was four weeks old.[5]
- The egg custard tarts seen in Avatar: The Last Airbender were recreated in a video on the Binging With Babish YouTube channel.[6]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Avatar: The Last Airbender Cookbook: Official Recipes from the Four Nations, p. 17.
- ↑ From older Avatar: The Last Airbender official site, originally on Nick.com. Encyclopedia now broken, archived at The Lost Lore of Avatar Aang - Gear: Egg Custard Tart.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 O'Bryan, John (writer) & Volpe, Giancarlo (director). (May 20, 2005). "The Great Divide". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 1. Episode 11. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ "Omashu", Avatar: Generations. Navigator Games & Square Enix Mobile London (February 28, 2023). Square Enix.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Avatar Extras for "The Great Divide" on Nicktoons Network.
- ↑ Binging with Babish (January 7, 2020). Binging with Babish: Egg Tarts from Avatar The Last Airbender. YouTube. Retrieved on January 22, 2020.