Posts filed under 'Madeira Food'
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
Madeira makes its own beer: Coral. Don`t miss it!
Try a Nikita if you like the idea of mixing beer, white wine and ice cream. Quit unusual and very tasty.
Poncha, is a must. Made of aguardente (the local fire water made from sugar canes) and fresh squeezed lemon or orange and honey, its a favourite amongst locals and visitors. If you are in Madeira and have a cold, I can guarantee you the locals will advice you to take a Poncha as the best cure.
Ginja is another Madeiran speciality, made from cherries, is a pleasant and sweet drink presented mostly as an aperitif.
And, Never to be missed the famous Madeira Wine.
February 17th, 2007
Food in Madeira is a “piece of heaven”. There are several very good restaurants with the traditional Madeira and Portuguese dishes.
It is easy to eat well and for very cheap in local restaurants, eating delicious local food and drinking tasty high quality Portuguese wine (local or from the main land). In Portugal you won’t need to order side dishes, weather you order fish or meat, it is always served with rice, salad, vegetables, boiled potatoes, chips, the traditional deep-fried cubes of Maize, depending on your taste. Going out for meal with wine, desert and an espresso coffee (very common to drink after a meal by the Portuguese), can cost you as little as 20 euros (£13) for two people.
If you want to cook yourself, you have plenty of fresh seafood, fish, meat, vegetables, and fruit to choose from and you will find several recipe books translated into English.
Regional dishes include Espada (fresh black scabbard fish), Bife de Atum and Milho Frito (tuna steak and fried maize), Lulas (squid), Caldeirada (fish soup) and of course the more of a thousand ways of Bacalhau (salted dried cod fish).
Try also Sopa de Tomate (tomato and onion soup), Espetada (meat on a spit), Carne de Vinho e Alhos (pickled pork in wine and garlic), Bolo do Caco (regional bread) and a slice of Bolo de Mel (dark honey cake) for desert.
There is plenty of quality and variety of fruit. Due to the subtropical climate, you`ll find wild growing fruit such as bananas, avocado, pear and passion fruit.
There are more than enough dishes to choose from. Seafood and fish, but also various fresh meat and chicken. The same kind of fish or meat is prepared in many various ways.
February 17th, 2007
Plenty of healthy tasty food in Madeira. I`ll leave you with one of the more than a thousand recipes of `Bacalhau` (dried cod fish salted and dried):
Country style Bacalhau: Ingredients for 4 people:
750 g of Bacalhau (centre cut or the lombo are the best for this recipe) 500 g boiled sliced potatoes
2 sliced medium onions 250 ml of olive oil
3 tbsp of fresh coriander, chopped The Bacalhau needs to be soaked for 24 hours, it`s convenient to change the water now and then. For the last hour soak the bacalhau in milk. Then put the fish in simmering water for 15 min, until it gets tender. Remove skin and bones and flake it into large pieces. Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the olive oil in a casserole, add the onions and cook them until they are soft. Remove from heat, add the potatoes, garlic and the fish and one table spoon of coriander, mix it well. Drizzle plenty of olive oil on top and put it in the even to bake until the top is golden. It usually takes 15 min in the even, but keep an eye on it. Serve it with the remaining coriander on top.
Hope it turns out well and that you will enjoy it.
September 26th, 2006
Madeira wine a product well known to the world, has been an important product to Madeira’s economy since the time of the first settlers in 1418.
For it`s importance to Madeira, Madeira Wine has been commemorated for many centuries through the Madeira Wine Festival. It happened this year between the 1st and the 5th of September. It starts with the grape harvest, plenty of traditional Madeira folk music and dance. Definitely a festival to wait for next year.
Madeira Wine can be split into four main categories:
Verdelho - Golden colour, its a sweet wine with a dry touch and nutty flavour.
Sercial - From Full golden to very pale, it is the driest of Madeira wines.
Bual - Golden brown in colour, its sweet, full-bodied, fruity and rich.
Malmesy - Golden colour, dark, rich, liquer like, light and fresh.
September 26th, 2006