What to eat in Cape Verde
Cachupa and the other dishes to try
Cape Verde’s national dish is cachupa: a slow-cooked stew of maize, beans, vegetables and, in the richer version, meat or fish. Leftover cachupa is fried up in a pan and eaten for breakfast with an egg: this is «cachupa grelhada».
On the islands people mainly eat very fresh fish: grilled tuna, wahoo, grouper and lobster, and the fried moray eel sold at the kiosks by Sal Rei harbour. Also try «pastéis», fried pastries filled with fish, goat’s cheese and, to finish, grogue, the sugar-cane spirit, or «ponche» made with honey.
Food in Cape Verde
The cuisine of Cape Verde
Food lovers will feel they are in paradise in Cape Verde, where grilled lobster, fresh tuna and a host of other delicacies are everyday fare in the local cooking.
The traditional speciality is cachupa, a delicious and filling dish that comes in two versions: the poor man’s cachupa, made with boiled maize, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes and herbs, and the rich man’s cachupa, which adds chicken or other meat to those ingredients.
Leftover cachupa is usually fried for breakfast (cachupa grelhada) with eggs or salami.
Other typical treats, easy to find on the street too, are pastéis, fried pastries filled with fish.
Another tempting delicacy is fried moreia (moray eel), very tasty but rather oily. Temanche, a small kiosk on the quay in Sal Rei on Boa Vista, fries it every day and serves it piping hot!
Cape Verde’s typical drink is grogue, a spirit distilled from sugar cane. If you find it too harsh, try ponche instead, an amber liqueur in which honey softens the aftertaste of the spirit. There is also a halfway house, coupada (a “cut”), a blend of grogue and ponche.
Typical products of Cape Verde
Cape Verdean chilli peppers
The malagueta (Capsicum frutescens) is a rather stubby cone about 2–3 cm long and about 0.5 cm across. As it ripens its colour changes from light green to orange-red, and it has a strong aroma of pepper and leather. This chilli is native to Brazil and related to the better-known tabasco pepper. It is very hot and is used fresh in sauces such as mojo, steeped with salt, spirits (grogue or whisky) and oil, or dried.
The Cape Verdean cayenne, on the other hand, is a chilli (probably Capsicum annuum) grown almost exclusively on the island of Fogo. It is a slender, slightly curved cone about 5–6 cm long and about 0.5 cm across; as it ripens its colour changes from green to dark red. It is very hot, with a slightly fruity aroma, and is used fresh or dried to flavour oil.
Wine
HISTORY AND GRAPE VARIETIES
Winegrowing is the hallmark of the island of Fogo, where vines were introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century; wine was already being exported to countries such as Brazil and Guinea from the 18th century.
The main varieties introduced, “Preta Tradicional” and “Uvinha Branca”, are of Portuguese origin, while “Moscatel Branca” arrived after the Second World War and quickly spread throughout the island’s wine-growing area as a table grape.
After Cape Verde’s independence, German development cooperation built the two wineries of Chã das Caldeiras and Achada Grande. It also imported other table-grape varieties and supplied machinery and technical assistance to improve winemaking.
But the real leap in the quality of Fogo’s wine came from 1998, thanks to support from the Cape Verdean and Italian governments and technical assistance from the Italian NGO Cospe.
In 2007, thanks to a new project funded by the European Union, the Sodade cooperative was founded on the initiative of a group of 20 local growers. That same year, despite a severe drought, the members’ vineyards produced 14,235 kg of grapes, later turned into around 13,000 bottles of wine. In 2008 a larger membership and a particularly good vintage were expected to double production to around 26,000 bottles.
The main areas planted with vines are the uplands of Achada Grande, Corvo and Relva, as well as Matarrafe, Orela, Montado and Enciada Tràs, where the vineyards lie between 800 and 1,800 metres above sea level. The harvest is of high quality, helped by a cool season that gives the vines a proper rest and by the “jorra“, the volcanic gravel that makes the soil especially fertile. The hot, dry climate, the long hours of sunshine and the absence of chemical fertilisers and irrigation keep both the quality and the quantity of the wine consistently excellent.
TYPES OF WINE
DOV “Voluntary Designation of Origin”
The wines made by the Sodade cooperative carry the “Voluntary Designation of Origin” (D.O.V.), which requires the wine to be made from traditional grape varieties dry-farmed above 800 m, with an alcohol content of at least 14% for dry wines and 12% for sweet wines such as “passito”.
RED WINE – VINHO TINTO 14%
Made from the Tradicional Preta grape, it is a full-bodied, very dark garnet wine, soft and velvety, with aromas of berries and vanilla. Ageing in oak barrels brings out its character. It goes well with meat, game and cheese, and is also much appreciated as a sipping wine. Serve at 18°C.
WHITE WINE (Vinho Branco) 14%
Made from the Moscatel Branco grape, it is a clear, golden-yellow wine with a delicate, fresh and fruity aroma typical of muscat and dried fruit. Ideal as an aperitif and with fish, shellfish and cured meats. Serve at 10–11°C.
ROSÉ WINE (Vinho Rosé) 14%
Made from the Preta Tradicional grape without skin contact, it is an excellent wine for lovers of the style. It has a light, bright pink colour and a fresh, fruity aroma. It can be enjoyed as an aperitif but is best with fish and seafood. Serve at 10–11°C.
PASSITO
SODADE PASSITO is made from dried “Moscatel Preta” grapes. It is dark red, with an unmistakable aroma of black muscat grapes, honey and dried fruit. Deeply sweet yet balanced, with a pleasant acidity, and a lingering finish that crowns the tasting. Serve at 12–14°C, with biscuits of various kinds. It can also be enjoyed on its own as a sipping wine.
GROGUE: its story
The only ingredient of grogue is sugar cane, which reached Cape Verde with enslaved people from the African mainland. At first, making an alcoholic drink from sugar cane was banned as a risk to public health, but this only fuelled illicit distilling.
In 1866 the authorities gave in, lifting the ban and introducing a tax on the spirit.
From 1900 the law required trapiches (presses) to be designed safely.
The trapiche is a press traditionally built of wood and driven round in a circle by oxen or mules. The sugar cane is cut and then crushed between heavy metal rollers. The sugar syrup extracted is collected in large wooden barrels, where it ferments for five to ten days.
The still is then placed in a stone oven, where the fermented syrup is brought to the boil. After about an hour the vapour is passed through a water-cooled pipe and the spirit begins to flow.
In many inland villages grogue is still made as it was when it was banned, in old petrol cans, with the spirit collected in rusty tins; so much so that, after decades of drinking it, the accumulated methanol can even cause blindness.
Grogue is very close to the hearts of Cape Verdeans. The drink is such an essential part of their culture that the rhythmic crushing of the cane inspired traditional music, and the most famous ballads, which dwelt on the social and economic hardships of the people, were sung while working around the trapiches.
Cape Verdean recipes
Kroketi di atum (tuna croquettes)
Ingredients (serves 4–5):
- 400 g potatoes
- 200 g fresh tuna
- 1 whole egg
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 bunch of parsley
- salt to taste
- chilli to taste
- a little soft breadcrumb for the mixture
- a little plain flour (to coat the croquettes)
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
Method: Boil the peeled potatoes, cut into small pieces, for 15–20 minutes. At the same time, boil the tuna with the bay leaf for about 20 minutes. In a bowl, combine the potatoes, the tuna, the egg, the chopped onion and garlic, the finely chopped parsley, chilli, salt to taste and a little breadcrumb. Shape into croquettes, coat them in flour and fry them in hot oil.
Pudim di kexu or DE QUEIJO (cheese pudding)
Ingredients (serves 4–5):
- ½ kg fresh cheese
- ½ kg sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 4 whole eggs
Method: Grate the cheese and mix it with the sugar, the yolks and the whole eggs. Caramelise two spoonfuls of sugar in the bottom of the pudding mould and bake in a bain-marie at 180°C for 45–60 minutes.
Coconut Candy (coconut sweets)
Ingredients:
- 1 kg coconut
- 1 kg sugar
- 1/4 burnt sugar or molasses
- grated lemon zest
Method: Grate the coconut. Gently caramelise the sugar and add it to the coconut with a little water. Then add the 1 kg of sugar and cook. When it is done, add the lemon zest. Spread the mixture on a buttered baking tray, flatten it and cut it into small squares.
Papaya Candy (papaya sweets)
Ingredients:
- 1 kg papaya flesh
- 1 kg sugar
- lemons
Method: Cut the peeled papaya into thin strips, add the sugar and cook everything over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Cook for ten minutes, then leave to rest for half an hour. Put it back on a higher heat until the mixture crystallises. Take it off the heat straight away and, with the help of a spoon, shape the mixture into different forms.
Canja de Galinha (chicken and rice soup)
Canja was once eaten only by well-off families, because it is made with meat. So canja is cooked for festivals and special occasions. The dish is based on chicken and rice, spiced with chilli.
Ingredients:
- one chicken
- one tablespoon of olive oil
- one onion
- one garlic clove
- chilli as you like
- stock cube or salt as you like
- rice, according to the number of people
- two ripe peeled tomatoes
- one bay leaf
- a sprig of sage
Method: Cut the chicken into small pieces and leave it to marinate in a pan for a few hours with salt, chopped garlic, onion, oil and bay leaf. Let it all take on flavour over a low heat, then add enough water to make a thick rice broth. Bring to the boil, then add the peeled, chopped tomatoes and the chilli. The broth should not be too thin. Serve with a sprig of sage, adding more chilli.
Caldo de Peixe (fish soup)
This fish soup can be made however you like, choosing the fish you prefer. Grouper (garoupa), bluefish, moray eel and so on are usually used, with green bananas, cassava, potatoes, pumpkin and various spices added.
Ingredients:
- soup fish
- two peeled tomatoes
- one bay leaf
- chilli
- 1/2 kg cassava
- 1 kg sweet potatoes
- 1/2 kg green bananas
- oil as you like
- one onion
- two cloves of garlic
- a sprig of sage
- a little flour
- 1 kg potatoes
- 1/2 kg pumpkin
Method: Leave the fish to take on flavour with garlic, oil and bay leaf. Meanwhile, gently fry for a few minutes the onion cut into rings, the garlic, bay leaf, chilli, peeled tomatoes, sage and olive oil. Then add the potatoes, bananas, cassava or pumpkin cut into small pieces and cover with water. When all the ingredients are almost cooked, add the fish and cook until done. The dish can be served with plain boiled rice.
Carne Gizado (meat and vegetable stew)
Ingredients:
- Two kg of pork or beef, diced
- Four or five white potatoes
- 1.5 kg cassava root
- 3 green bananas
- 3 onions
Method: Marinate the meat with garlic, salt, vinegar, bay leaves and pepper. Finely slice the potatoes, cassava and green bananas. Cook the meat slowly with the marinade, adding the three onions and oil as needed. Halfway through, add the sliced vegetables and cover with water until fully cooked. Season with salt, garlic, bay leaf, paprika and pepper.
Supida de Xerem (crushed maize with vegetables and meat)
Ingredients:
- 2 kg xerem (maize crushed in a mortar)
- 2 pumpkins
- 20 green cabbage leaves
- 250 g salted pork fat, diced
- 1.5 kg pork, diced
- 1 kg dried beans
- 4 medium onions
Method: Soak the dried beans in water overnight. Wash the maize and leave it to soak for a couple of hours, then cook it with an onion cut into quarters. Marinate the meat with garlic, salt, vinegar, bay leaf and pepper. Boil the cabbage leaves cut into strips, then drain. Now layer all the ingredients: the sliced pumpkin at the bottom, then the pork, the cabbage, the beans, the diced or sliced onions and finally the crushed maize. Season everything with salt, garlic, bay leaf and pepper, adding ½ cup of oil and 3 cups of water. Cover with the lid and cook over a low heat for at least an hour and a half.
Cachupa
Cachupa is a nourishing, high-calorie dish that needs no special skills, but it does take a long time to make.
It is made with different ingredients, with meat or with fish, but always keeping the basic ones: maize, beans, potatoes and cassava.
Ingredients:
- 500 g “pounded” maize
- 200 g dried borlotti beans
- 200 g dried cannellini beans
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 1 tablespoon of lard
- 1 savoy cabbage
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 chillies
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 small cassava
- 1 inhame (yam)
- 2 green bananas
- salt
- 1 small spicy salami
- 2 fresh sausages
- half a boiling hen
- 500 g pork spare ribs
- 1 pig’s trotter
Method: The evening before, soak the maize and the beans. In a large pan, put the maize and beans on to cook in cold water. Halfway through, add all the meat, the potatoes, the cassava, the inhame and the bananas. In a frying pan, gently fry the onion, garlic, bay leaf and chilli. Divide this into two portions. In another frying pan, cook the hen with one portion. In the other portion, cook the savoy cabbage cut into strips. Mix everything into the pan where the maize and beans were cooked and let the flavours blend well, with a little very thick broth. Serve the cachupa in a tureen and the meat and vegetables on a platter.
A food glossary of Cape Verdean cooking
A few useful words for lunches and dinners on the Cape Verde islands.
BREAKFAST
- katchupa the previous evening’s cachupa, which has thickened by now. It is served with slices of salami and topped with a fried egg.
- óbu egg (boiled ferbedu, fried fritádu)
- óbu batidu or omelete omelette
- kafé coffee
- kafé pekenu espresso
- kafé ku leti – galom milky coffee
- leti milk
- sumu fruit juice
- pom bread
- tosta toast
- tosta mixta toasted sandwich with ham and/or cheese
- doxi di… jam (guava, papaya…)
LUNCH – DINNER
- arroz de mariscos rice with shellfish
- bife steak (which may be porku pork, atum tuna, séra bluefish…)
- bitoque usually a steak with a fried egg
- cabritada stewed kid goat
- cachupa (a kind of maize and bean stew with meat or fish – often both – and vegetables).
- calderada fish stew
- caldo de peixe fish soup (whole fish, usually grouper) cooked with vegetables including banana, cassava and sweet potato
- canja de galinha chicken broth
- churrasco grilled chicken
- croquete croquettes (usually fish)
- djagacida stewed pork fat, usually served with xeren
- fejoada bean stew (beans with meat, more rarely with fish. It is a dish of Brazilian origin).
- linguiça or longuiça smoked sausage.
- moreia frita moray eel steaks, marinated in oil, vinegar and garlic, then floured and fried
- pastel de milho fried pasty made with maize dough
- pinchos kebabs (usually pork)
- rissois fried pasty
- sopa soup, usually a thin broth with a few vegetables
- xeren a kind of coarse-ground maize porridge with beans, served with various brothy dishes
pexi, morisku fish and seafood:
- atum tuna
- séra bluefish
- mureia or moreia moray eel
- garropa a kind of small, single-portion grouper
- dorada similar to gilt-head bream
- chicharro a very oily mackerel-type fish
- lula squid
- lapas limpets
- buzio the flesh of large sea snails, boiled and dressed with sauces
- percebes goose barnacles, typical of these islands and of Atlantic coasts
- lagosta lobster
- camaroes prawns
- polvo octopus
kárni meat:
- cabrito kid goat
- frango chicken
- pato duck
- porku pork
- vaka beef
side dishes
- batáta ‘ngleza potato (fritadu fried, ferbédu boiled)
- alfase salad
- batáta doce or simply batáta sweet potato
- tomate tomato
- if you’d like some sauce, ask for molho or modju (perhaps a hot one, picante, with piripiri or malagueta chilli).
Queixo or kexu cheese
desserts
- bolu cake
- doce di papaia papaya jam, usually served as a dessert with thin strips of cheese.
- jeládu ice cream (usually pre-packed)
- pudim pudding (de leite with eggs and milk, de coco coconut, de kexu with cheese)