The origin of this sweet dates back to the 19th century, with Abbot Manuel Joaquim Rebelo, who served the parish of Priscos, in Braga, for 47 years. He was born in 1834 in Turiz (Vila Verde) and died in 1930 – he lived 96 years. The notoriety of this Abbot was accentuated by his skills in the kitchen, with special emphasis on the famous pudding that bears his name, a sweet that is still a regular on the lists of the best restaurants from north to south of the country, delighting those who visit it, especially from the Minho region. The story goes that the Abbot used his unique talent and palate to prepare the most varied dishes and that he rarely recorded his gastronomic works.

He was known for carrying with him everywhere a “magic briefcase”, in which he kept a panoply of unique spices and which solved any unforeseen situation that his kitchen assistants encountered. The most caricatured episode on record took place on 3 October 1887, when King Luís I and the Royal Family were passing through the north of Portugal. The Abbot was invited to prepare the banquets in Póvoa de Varzim and it is said that on one of the days of his stay, the Abbot set about grinding a straw that was to be made especially for King Luís I. After the banquet that evening, King Luís I met Father Manuel Rebelo and congratulated him, wanting to know the secret of certain dishes with such a unique flavour. The Abbot replied: “It is straw, Sir!” D. Luís, outraged by this statement, asked again: “Straw?” The Abbot, with a mischievous smile, finally lowered his head and replied: “Forgive me, Sir, but everyone eats straw, the question is how to cook it.” Priscos’s Abbot’s Pudding is also known for its sweet ingredients, which include half a kilo of sugar, port wine and fifteen egg yolks, but don’t think that the secret lies in the large amount of sugar: the key to the success of Priscos’s Abbot’s Pudding lies in the fifty grams of bacon that make it unique.