01 Aug

Posted at 14:43h in culture, madeiramade by
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Summer is here! While most people en masse throw a bunch of burgers and sausages on the barbecue, in Madeira they eat espetada. Espetada is a traditional Madeiran dish, not to be confused with that other popular Madeira dish ‘espada’! Although these two dishes are very similar in name, they totally different. Espetada is a meat dish and espada is fish. SO WHAT IS ESPETADA? Espetada is a grilled beef skewer. It is very simple and very delicious! Traditionally the beef is skewerd on a laurel branch, but nowadays it's...

01 Jul

Posted at 14:44h in culture, madeiramade by
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The Portuguese have a sweet tooth. On Madeira you’ll find countless little bakery shops and all these shops have windows chock-full pastries and cakes. One of Madeira’s oldest delicacies is ‘bolo de mel de cana’ or ‘honey cake’. This cake is traditionally made with Christmas, but you can buy it all year round. Traditionally, when people make this cake for Christmas, they’ll make enough to last the whole year. Bolo de mel can easily be preserved that long. In fact, the cake gets even more delicious with time.  A...

21 Jan

Posted at 14:58h in culture, madeiramade by
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During our first visit to Madeira, our hotel served pastel de nata every other day at breakfast. It was love at first taste! After my first pastel de nata, my trip to the breakfast buffet was not complete without grabbing one, or two of these pastries. In my defense: they served mini pastel de nata. Unfortunately we were never again so lucky to have pastel de nata at hotel breakfast. However, you will find small bakeries on every corner of the street in Madeira, so getting a hold of...

04 Jan

Posted at 15:00h in madeiramade by
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Bolo do caco: typical Madeiran food! You will find bolo do caco in practically all restaurants on Madeira and at many street food stands. SO WHAT IS IT, BOLO DO CACO? It is a Madeiran flat bread.  The bread, bolo, is cooked on a caco: a hot basalt stone, thus the name. This bread is served in many delicious ways. Essential is homemade garlic butter: bolo do caco and garlic butter are best friends. Restaurants will serve the bread with garlic butter as an appetizer, and at cafes or food stands you'll find it with...