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Aug 3, 2023 · Madeira has a long-standing culture of cocktails, and the island’s most famous concoction is a blend of local white rum, citrus juice, and sugar and/or honey known as poncha. Ideally made to ...
May 30, 2024 · Espada, a deep-sea fish, is a favorite, often prepared with banana. These Madeira fish dishes are a must-try for anyone wondering what to eat in Madeira. 12. Atum à Madeirense A lot of the best food in Madeira Portugal is seafood, including tuna — a must-try dish. As the most caught fish off Madeira, this is an unsurprisingly good local dish.
- Espetada: Must-Try Food in Madeira. Hailed by many travelers (including us!) as the best food in Funchal, Espetada is a must-try dish during your trip to Madeira.
- Bolo do Caco: Staple of Madeira Food. The French have the baguette, the Italians have focaccia and Madeira has Bolo do Caco. The flat, round bread is, perhaps, the most traditional food in Madeira and a staple of the local cuisine.
- Prego Especial: Classic Madeira Cuisine. Whether you are looking for comfort cuisine, quick Madeira street food or budget eats, the Prego Especial will surely satisfy.
- Grilled Limpets: Top Madeira Seafood. A local delicacy of Madeira, Grilled Limpets are a favorite seafood appetizer or afternoon snack to eat alongside a glass of wine.
- What to Eat in Madeira – Soups
- Typical Madeira Dishes – Fish and Seafood
- Traditional Madeiran Dishes – Meat
- What to Eat in Madeira – Side Dishes
- Traditional Madeira Sweets
Wheat Soup – Sopa de trigo
The Madeiran wheat soup is an authentic meal that feeds you all day long. It is a consistent soup with a gummy texture and is very nutritious. It is closely associated with country life. This soup has everything one deserves: salted pork or bacon, buckwheat, potatoes (called semilhas in Madeira), pumpkin, sweet potatoes, beans, cabbage, and turnips. As you can see, it’s a very complete dish that will satisfy your hunger. It is not very easy to find this soup in restaurants; it is only availab...
Tomato Soup and Poached Egg – Sopa de Tomate
The Madeira Tomato Soup is one of the most popular soups among Madeirans and tourists alike. This soup appears on the menu of almost every restaurant, especially in Funchal. It’s a soup that takes tomato and poached egg, which can only be good. Great in summer or for a light meal, this soup has tomato, onion, garlic, and finally poached eggs. It is ideally accompanied by a slice of bread.
Chicken Soup – Canja de Galinha
We have included chicken soup in this list as it is part of a uniqueChristmas traditionthat is very different from mainland Portugal. On Christmas Eve after the Midnight Mass, in Madeira, it is traditional to eat chicken soup accompanied by a bolo do caco sandwich with chicken leftovers or meat in a garlic vine (see also below). This soup takes the usual ingredients of chicken soup, chicken and offal (gizzards, neck, heart, paws, and liver), rice or pasta, onions, and sometimes can take turni...
The Madeira archipelago is the ideal place to eat fish or seafood. Surrounded by the sea, it is easy to find different types of fish—and really fresh ones. In addition to the high quality, it is relatively cheap, especially compared to other European countries.
Prego in bolo do caco
Prego is a typical Portuguese dish that consists of a sandwich with beef tenderloin seasoned with mustard and meat frying sauce. Madeira’s dish was perfected, and instead of regular bread, it is used bolo do caco with butter and garlic. Often, the prego in bolo de caco also has fried eggs, cheese, and ham. It’s a great snack to eat on a terrace with a cool drink. If the regular prego is already delicious, it’s divine with bolo do caco.
Meat in a garlic vine – Carne em vinha d’alhos
Meat in garlic vine, or carne em vinha d’alhos, is a traditional Madeiran dish at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, it is eaten in a bolo do caco sandwich with chicken soup, and on Christmas Day, it is served with fried corn or potato. To make this dish, marinate the pork in white wine, vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and savory. After 2 or 3 days, fry in lard. The dish is quite similar to the typical rojões from the Minho region in northern Portugal. It is not easy to find this dish in r...
Bolo do Caco with Butter and Garlic
Bolo do caco is a type of bread that is very appreciated in Madeira. You can find it all over the island served as an aperitif with butter, garlic, and parsley, in sandwiches with cheese and eggs, or with pork steak (prego). It’s simply divine, and it’s a must to eat in Madeira. Learn more about typical Portuguese bread Its name comes from the fact that it is round and flat, about 3 cm high. It is thought to have Arab influence. It is a bread with light dough and a thin crust, a little leaven...
Sweet Potato Bread
One of the most produced vegetables in Madeira is the sweet potato, which is exported to several European countries. Thus, it is no wonder that sweet potatoes are abundantly used in Madeiran cuisine. There are several types of sweet potatoes, with white, yellow, and orange flesh. All of them have a sweet taste and are great roasted or boiled. Plus, it can also be used to cook bread like bolo do caco and for fillings. Sweet potato bread is delicious. It requires as much wheat flour as sweet po...
Fried corn
Fried corn is one of Madeira’s most frequent and exclusive side dishes. It is quite addictive and very crispy. It is used to accompany meat or fish, often appearing on a skewer on a bay leaf. To make fried corn, first make cornmeal porridge with water until it is cooked and dry. Allow it to cool and solidify on a tray. Cut it into small cubes and then fry in hot oil. Many recipes also use finely chopped cabbage, such as for caldo verde (a typical Portuguese soup). But in restaurants, they usu...
Bolo de Mel
Bolo de Mel is the most famous dessert in Madeira. This cake is closely associated with Christmas, as it used to be offered at Christmas. But nowadays it is available at any time of the year. Traditionally, the cake used to be made on the 8th of December, the day of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, and consumed at Christmas. This way, the cake had time to absorb and refine all the flavors. This cake is made with sugar cane honey (molasses), flour, Madeira wine, oranges, walnuts, almond kernels, an...
Family Cake – Bolo da Família
The Family Cake is similar to the Madeira Honey Cake but with some key differences. This is the typical cake made by grandma at home for family gatherings. Although it has almost the same ingredients as the famous sugarcane honey cake, such as port wine, raisins, nuts, and, of course, sugarcane honey, the family cake is softer and less dense. It doesn’t have the Honey Cake spices, like cloves, star anise, and nutmeg, and it’s not made with baker’s yeast. This cake is not so famous and is usua...
Broas de Mel
Broas de Mel are another variant of a sweet that uses sugarcane honey, they are a kind of biscuit and they are also very traditional at Christmas. But, you can find them at any time of the year and they are very famous. They are made with the normal ingredients used to make cookies, but they also contain sugarcane honey, cinnamon, and lemon zest. They usually accompany Madeira liqueurs.
- Lapas (Limpets) Trying lapas, Madeira’s picturesque, bottom feeding shellfish, is a must when exploring Madeiran cuisine. They’re usually grilled and served in their beautiful silvery shells and served with butter and garlic on top.
- Espada (Black Scabbard Fish) Black scabbard fish may be the ugliest fish in the ocean. Long and black, they have huge eyes and a mouth full of pointy teeth.
- Espada Com Banana (Black Scabbard Fish With Banana) While Madeiran people have been fishing and eating black scabbard fish for centuries, we’re not sure who had the creative idea to bread these eel-like fish, fry them and put a banana on top.
- Espetada Madeirense (Beef Skewer) While it’s possible to eat skewers called Espetada made with all sorts of protein on mainland Portugal, it’s more special to eat Espetada Madeirense.
Oct 16, 2023 · 1. Best For Fine Dining: Restaurante Il Gallo d’Oro at The Cliff Bay Hotel (Funchal) Address: Estrada Monumental 147, 9004-532 Funchal, Portugal. Hours: 7 pm – 10 pm, Tuesday to Saturday; closed on Sundays and Mondays. Booking: portobay.com, thefork.pt. The average cost of dinner for two is around $600 (€570).
Aug 8, 2024 · Espetada. Another very simple, very delicious dish is espetada. And it’s also another Madeiran classic. Espetada is a long skewer of marinated meat cubes. Beef is the most traditional meat used, but these days you can also find it made with pork, sausage, chicken, or even squid.
