Speaking of summer in Portugal is talking about hot sand, cold sea and salespeople to travel kilometers with thermal boxes full of Berlin balls. This sweet, typically covered with sugar and stuffed with cream or other variations, is one of the most consumed delicacies on Portuguese beaches. However, its impact on oral health is not always taken into account by those who consume it.
According to News to Minuto, Berlin Ball occupies third place on the list of the best selling sweets in Portuguese pastries. Its fame gains even more strength during the bathing season, when many Portuguese choose it as a beach snack. However, orthodontics experts warn of essential care after consumption.
Eating with scheduled time (and with more things next door)
Impress, a company that specializes in oral health, recommends that this candy be included in the main meals. According to the same source, when consumed during lunch or dinner, the Berlin ball benefits from a protective effect provided by the increased saliva production during the meal. This natural mechanism helps to neutralize acids and clean the mouth of eating remains.
Thus, typical summer dessert becomes less aggressive for teeth than when ingested in isolation, as a snack. Consumption between meals, the site explains, increases teeth exposure time to sugars and reduces the effectiveness of natural oral cleaning.
Pad instead of a brush? Sometimes, yes
Oral hygiene after ingestion of sweets is a habitual recommendation. However, it refers to the same source that, being a product consumed mostly on the beach, the brushing of teeth is not always viable. In such cases, the suggestion is to chew sugar -free elastic tablet.
It reveals to A News to the minute that this solution stimulates saliva production and helps to clean the teeth effectively, acting as a provisional alternative to brushing. The tip, besides being practice, allows you to maintain oral health controlled even outside the home.
The origin is German, but summer is Portuguese
Despite being a symbol of Portuguese summers today, Berlin’s ball is not a national creation. According to the Portal linked to Tourism, Visit Lisboa, its introduction to Portugal took place during World War II, through the Jewish family Davisohn, a German refugee that brought with it the revenue of Berlin pancakes.
Adds the publication that was in Lisbon, on the beaches of the capital, that this family began to produce and sell the first versions of the candy. The original recipe consisted of a fried mass with sugar and stuffed with fruit jam, especially strawberry or red fruits.
PASTEIRO CREAM AND OTHER VARIATIONS
Over time, the recipe was adapted to local taste. The traditional Portuguese version now includes egg -based yellow pastry cream. It refers to the same source that, in recent decades, other variations have emerged, with flavors such as chocolate, coconut, lemon, hazelnut or fruits.
Today it is possible to find Berlin balls in virtually every pastry shops in the country, but it is on the beach that they continue to be most sought after. The sellers, with the typical trading session “look at the ball!”, Keep the tradition that crossed generations and borders.
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