Ovos Moles (“Soft Eggs”) are a traditional delicacy of the Aveiro region. As most traditional pastries in Portuguese cuisine, they were developed by local nuns, whose convents kept active until the 19th Century. Upon their disappearance, the Ovos Moles recipe lived on thanks to the ladies who had been raised by the Aveiro nuns. Since the inception of the Porto-Lisbon railway, Ovos Moles are sold by women wearing local costumes at the Aveiro stop.
Ovos Moles consist of sweetened egg yolks wrapped in wafer casings that are shaped as shells, fish, barrels and other sea-related motifs. In Aveiro they’re usually sold in handmade wood barrels painted with pictures of moliceiros, the local boats of the Ria de Aveiro.