Last Updated on September 10, 2026

A dive into the food culture of the Pearl of the Atlantic

One small fishing village in Madeira is central to three of the island’s iconic culinary offerings. From the pretty port of Câmara de Lobos come espada, espetada and poncha. Once I tasted all of these, I could appreciate not only the dishes themselves, but the role they play in the cuisine of this subtropical, volcanic island where everything grows, the weather is mild year-round, and eating and drinking are pure pleasure.

Espada

The first food fact I learned on a food trip around Madeira is the difference between two similar words – espada and espetada. The former is the local black scabbard fish, while the latter is an enormous skewer of grilled beef cubes. Both are delicious and eaten throughout the island.

Visit the fishing village of Câmara de Lobos – a short drive from the capital city, Funchal – and you will see the fishing boats bobbing in the harbour. This is where the island’s local espada fish are landed. Known in English as black scabbard fish, this is possibly the ugliest fish I have ever seen, with the kind of face only a mother could love. On a visit to the Mercado de Lavadores – the Funchal farmer’s market that is a must-visit on a Friday or Saturday when the farmers bring in their abundant produce – I had a good look at these long, black, eel-type fish with a scary set of razor-sharp teeth. They live in the depths of the ocean and are fished at night, hand-caught with lines up to 1km long.

Don’t be put off by appearances, as this is a meaty and very tasty fish. It is often served battered and fried, served with sautéed banana and passion fruit. I enjoyed this dish on my first night on the island at a Funchal restaurant above a group of natural rock pools. A few days later I had a delicious grilled espada high up above Funchal, in a neighbourhood called Monte. We had a thrilling 15-minute cable car ride up a precipitous mountainside and enjoyed a terrace view over the city below at Patio de Barbosa. From here it is a hop and a skip to the Monte Palace Gardens, which is a delightful way to spend a few hours.

Once I had tasted a couple of methods of cooking espada, I was able to appreciate the high-end interpretation of this dish. At the annual Gastronomy Festival I attended as a guest of Visit Madeira, Chef Roberto Barros of Galáxia restaurant prepared an artful plate of black scabbard fish served on a base of limpet rice, with fermented banana and passion fruit. I loved how the island’s top chefs showcase local produce with such respect for traditional dishes.

Limpets are another must-try food on Madeira. Locally known as lapas, they’re a ubiquitous starter dish, much like baby clams in restaurants on the Portuguese mainland. These small sea snails that cling to rocks are served sizzling on a cast-iron pan, grilled and dressed with garlic butter. The rising temperature of the sea is affecting the survival of lapas, but fortunately, the scientists at the local university have come up with a method of protecting the larvae until they are mature enough to survive the current temperatures.

Espetada

While I knew that there would be excellent fish in Madeira – it is an island after all – the popularity of meat dishes was unexpected. Wherever we travelled around the island, I kept an eye out for cows because a lot of beef is eaten here. Where could the grazing grounds be on this mountainous terrain? One Madeiran I met opined that while there is plenty of fish, Madeirans love meat, and particularly for celebrations. Madeirans love to party – there seems to be a constant cycle of festivals – and the dish that is cooked is espetada.

Drive a few minutes into the hills behind Câmara de Lobos to a village with a similar name, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, which is the home of espetada. You can find skewers prepared with chicken or tuna, but for first-timers and carnivores, I would suggest the meat variety. This dish originated in this village, which explains why there are so many restaurants here where you can enjoy it. I ate a terrific version at Viola, where each table had two metal hooks from which the cooked skewers were hung. The meat was cooked to order, grilled on a capacious open wood fire and brought straight to the table. We were shown how to pull the meat off the hanging skewers, eating one delicious cube after another. The beef (we ordered fillet and loin) was seasoned with crushed bay leaves, garlic and salt. While restaurants often use metal skewers, if you eat espetada at a private party or in the countryside, you might find that the traditional laurel branch is used.

I was fortunate to enjoy a traditional espetada experience on a grape farm on the day the fruit was harvested. It took place at Blandy’s Quinta do Bispo, in São Jorge, on the northern coast of Madeira, high up on a cliff, with the sea in the distance. After the grapes had been picked, we tasted various types of Madeira Wine and were served a buffet lunch of espetada along with the traditional side dishes. A band played in the vineyard and after lunch, having eaten our fill of espetada, we jumped into the huge trough into which the grape crates were emptied, and began to dance, arm in arm,  crushing the grapes beneath our bare feet. I felt that I was an extra in a film, and was delighted to have experienced espetada in such a festive environment.

Two must-try side dishes are served with espetada, and I enjoyed these in almost every local eatery I visited. Milho frito is best described as fried polenta in that it is made from cooked cornmeal, which is cut into squares and deep-fried. In Madeira, the cornmeal is often mixed with slivers of cabbage or herbs. They are fried until a deep golden colour and very crispy outside and creamy within. They are as moreish as French fries in my view, and I began to look forward to them at every meal. They soak up the juices from the espetada beautifully.

The other carb to enjoy is a local bread called bol de caco – a small round flatbread that is toasted and slathered with garlic butter. It too soaks up sauces perfectly and is just as good eaten on its own; it is often served as a starter, much like bread and butter might. Bol de caco was different to the Levantine flatbreads with which I am well acquainted. It is made with mashed sweet potato mixed with wheat flour and baked on a hot plate or in a wood-fired oven.

Poncha – Madeira’s Rum Cocktail

While food plays a central role in Madeiran life, so do the local beverages. One that was completely new to me was a cocktail called poncha. This too derives from Câmara de Lobos. Poncha is a very strong, rum-based drink developed by the local fishermen to warm up after their fishing expeditions. Unlike in the Caribbean, where the rum is made all year round from molasses and is aromatic with spices and cinnamon, Madeira produces Agricultural rum from the sugar cane juice that is used within 24 hours of the cane being harvested. It is a pure rum which is produced in strengths of 40 – 80 % alcohol. Poncha is a mix of rum with lemons and sugar. It is both astringent and packs a punch, or a poncha, as I like to say.

Treated to lunch at Vila do Peixe in Câmara de Lobos, a fish restaurant overlooking the beautiful village, our waiter made us poncha from scratch. He had quite a workout while he pounded lemon peels and sugar with a long muddling stick, then added a sizeable jug full of fresh lemon juice and the same amount of 50% rum. That was when I understood why this drink is so powerful. Some bars and restaurants serve a sweetened poncha, where the rum is mixed with lots of crushed ice and fruit juice – like a very alcoholic slushy. Utterly delicious and a wonderful way to kick off an afternoon or evening of grilling and eating espetada.

Poncha is so much a part of life on Madeira that chefs use it in creative ways. Quinta de Furão on the northeast coast is a clifftop restaurant with a dramatic view over the cliffs, full of dense vegetation, that fall precipitously into the sea far below. Here we ate poncha tiramisu, the Savoyard biscuits soaked in poncha and topped with cream and lemon zest. A dessert as refreshing as it was alcoholic.

At Audax, a starter course, poncha – prawns from the coast- was a homage to Madeiran fishermen, with prawns in poncha sauce, referencing the prawns they use as bait and the cocktail they created.

Fine Dining in Madeira

While I had insufficient time to try the full range of local soups and other dishes on Madeira – all the more reason for a second visit – I was fortunate to be able to taste some top chefs’ interpretations of humble dishes. At Audax, a fine-dining, Michelin-recommended restaurant in Funchal, Chef César Vieira cooks a tasting menu of five or seven ‘moments’ where he pays homage to local Madeiran cuisine. One of these dishes is aҫorda, a simple soup made with leftover bread, garlic, an egg and herbs. The version of this soup at Audax was the most memorable starter dish I ate in 10 days.

I had the opportunity to attend the Gastronomy Festival at the Casa Velha do Palheiro Relais & Château high up above Funchal. The Arraial Gourmet is an annual gastronomy festival in late August, where guests enjoy modern culinary innovations prepared at live cooking stations. Eleven top chefs prepare an exclusive dish, while guests quaff Madeira wine, champagne, Portuguese wines and poncha. Most of the chefs have restaurants in Madeira, and having eaten at a number of these, I can recommend them all – you will find their names and restaurants in a Fact Box below. The winning dish for me was by the chef from the hotel’s Michelin-recommended Oxalis restaurant. Chef Gonҫalo Bita Bota, whose scarlet prawn was served on a seaweed brioche, fennel pickle (Funchal is named after funcha (fennel) that grows all over the island), a prawn mayo and a crumble made from prawn heads.

The best dessert I ate was at another Michelin-recommended restaurant with a view over Funchal that was so superb it threatened to overwhelm the food.  Avista’s Chef João Luz has transformed the exotic fruits of the island into his Exotic Symphony – which incorporates guava sorbet rolled into a flower, passion fruit mousse, and mint cream balls, a dessert of utter beauty.

Before I left for Madeira, friends who had previously visited said, ‘the food is really good’. I departed for Funchal with an open mind and high expectations. I recommend beginning by covering several of the local dishes, then moving on, if you wish, to high-end restaurants where these popular dishes are given a contemporary twist. After 10 days of eating and drinking my way around the island, I can report that the food is indeed very good, sometimes outstanding – the island has a number of Michelin-starred restaurants and many that are mentioned in the Michelin Guide. But it was not only high-end dining that I enjoyed. Food at any level of simplicity or complexity is not only what is on the plate, but also about those you share it with. On Madeira, I discovered a respect and reverence for the island’s produce, where the love of eating and drinking is apparent, from the family birthday celebration over an espada dinner, where boxes of birthday cake accompanied the group to their table, to the Bacchanalian feast in a vineyard. Madeirans are proud of their fabulous produce, and there is a strong sense of community and pleasure derived from the art of breaking bread together. I so enjoyed my gastronomic experience of Madeira that I had thoughts of moving to the island. Short of making such a dramatic life change, I will certainly be booking a return trip to this special place. I suggest you visit too.

Madeira Gastronomy Fact Box

The Arraial Gourmet Festival takes place in late August at the Casa Velha do Palheiro Relais & Château. This year the participating chefs were:

Gonҫalo Bito Bota – Oxalis restaurant

David Jesus – Seiva and Feirio restaurants (near Porto)

Filipe Janeiro – Gazebo restaurant

César Vieira – Audax restaurant

Júlio Pereira and Carlos Gonҫalves – Grupo Kampo

Roberto Barros – Galáxia Skyfood, Savoy Palace Hotel

Fabio Vieira  – Adego do Pomar restaurant

Duarte Oliveira – Vista Balancal restaurant

Tony Fernandes – Pastry chef and founder of Uaucacau

Joana Gonҫalves – Pastry chef at Choux Pâtisserie

Looking for something different? Learn about Pasteis de Nata from our recent trip to Lisbon