Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United and Portugal’s midfield
Fatima Lopes - Well known fashion designer
Karl of Austria - Austrian monarch
Artur de Sousa Pinga - Former Cs Maritimo and FC Porto
Winston Churchill - who took regular holidays in the island in the 1950s
Columbus - it’s believed Columbus lived in the island and it was Madeira exotic plants that convinced him that sailing west would take him to Indies
And plenty more.
February 18th, 2007
The variety of dishes to eat is enormous, here are just a few to get you appetite going:
Starters
Many starters are available, the most traditional are the lapas (limpets) a native Madeira shellfish and the tasty tomato soup shouldn’t be missed.
Cataplana
Traditional Portuguese dish named after the pan it is cooked in. A delicious dish with plenty of different seafood.
Espada (scabbard)
Only found in the waters of Madeira, It`s a very popular fish in Madeira with many different ways and ingredients to be cooked. It can be served with banana, passion fruit, garlic and many other ways.
Espetada
Chunks of beef traditionally flavoured with garlic, sea salt and crushed bay leaves, skewered on a stick and grilled traditionally in open fire. Some restaurants now use an electric cooks to grill it, others still grill it in the fire and you can see it being grilled while you wait to be served.
Prego no prato
Tender beef grilled or fried served with chips, salad and rice. A simple and tasty dish.
Bolo do caco
Traditional Madeira bread presented in flat circles, made of flour, sweet potatoes, yeast and water, cooked in an opened fire.
Caldeirada
Delicious fish soup with many different types of fish in it. Not to be missed.
Arroz de marisco (seafood rice)
Rice cooked with an enormous variety of fresh seafood.
Bacalhau
The ancient and traditional dried cod fish. Bacalhau is one of the dishes Portuguese people eat during Christmas Eve. Portuguese people have more than 1001 ways of cooking this fish and believe me all of them very delicious.
Other variety of fish
Espadarte (Swordfish), Pargo (Bream), Salmonete (Red Mullet), Atum (Tuna), Others
Are also very popular in restaurants menu’s.
February 18th, 2007
Madeira climate allows you to relax sitting at a table outside a coffee shop, a restaurant, enjoying a drink, a snack or a meal. It’s usual for coffee shops and restaurants to have tables outside in the sun protected by sun umbrellas.
Coffee shops are filled with all kinds of drinks; you can try the tasty Brisa juice or the Coral beer which are produced in Madeira and try the vast delicious pastry coffee shops have to offer you.
Historically very connected to coffee plantations in Africa and Brasil, drinking coffee is a strong actual habit by Portuguese people. The most common is an espresso (generally followed by a glass of water) which is drunk several times along the day, after lunch and dinner, and on its own during the day.
February 18th, 2007