The best traditional dishes of Madeira

You’ve seen the sights, you walked along Levadas, you awed at the vistas of Pico Ruivo, and now all you want is something delicious to eat. Many people think that sights and museums are the only places where culture is, but there is no greater pleasure when exploring a different culture than tasting its food. With that in mind, here is a small list of the must-eat traditional dishes of Madeira.

Espetada is a dish made of beef cubes roasted with salt, garlic, and bay leaves on a laurel skewer above wood or charcoal. This dish is so popular that some restaurants have metal frames in the centre of their tables from which you can hang the long Espetada skewers. The plate is traditionally served with either roasted maise or with “bolo do caco” bread.

Bolo do caco is a traditional sweet bread of Madeira, and Porto Santo made with sweet potatoes, flour, salt, water, and baking powder. The dish is traditionally prepared on a hot basalt stone named “caco”. The dough is first kneaded into a ball and then flattened on the stone and left to cook. It is multi-purposeful. It can be eaten with a dish, dipped, or even made into a sandwich with many different fillings such as pork, octopus, ham, or swordfish. 

If you saw the Espada fish at a market, you wouldn’t think it’s delicious. This deep-sea fish is black and has a fearsome expression, but any fish-dish-lovers will swear by its tastiness. Only a few other places in the world serve this deep-sea dish. The juicy black scabbard fillet is seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon, and garlic. The fish fillets are then dipped in egg and flour and roasted in oil. Sometimes there is a delicious banana sauce and passion fruit on the side, and other times the banana is cooked with the fish fillets themselves. This dish is usually served with either potatoes or fresh lettuce and tomato salad on the side.

“Picadinho”, or just “Picado”, is a traditional dish in Madeira and is made in pretty much every restaurant on the island. As such, it has many different forms and iterations. Some are made with beef cuts (others with octopus or squid) seasoned with pepper and garlic and roasted into a sauce and served with fries (though the sides vary). The meal is meant to be enjoyed with a group of friends using toothpicks or forks. 

Lastly, we wanted to recommend the Carne de Vinha D’Alhos because it is a traditional dish associated with the Christmas season but is also eaten all year round. Pork marinated in garlic, vinegar, white wine, pepper, salt, and bay leaves is left to sit for about two days and is fried together with the marinade on a bit of lard. This delicious dish is very filling and makes for the perfect lunch after a long day of sightseeing.