Cape Verdean Cuisine

Cape Verdean cuisine is soulful, hearty island food born of the archipelago's Portuguese and African heritage and its Atlantic setting, making the most of limited resources in a dry land. Its beloved national dish is cachupa, a rich, slow-cooked stew of hominy corn, beans, vegetables and whatever meat or fish is available, simmered for hours and often served for breakfast the next day as cachupa refogada, fried with an egg. Fresh fish and seafood, tuna, grouper, lobster and limpets, are abundant, alongside tropical fruit, and everything is washed down with the fiery local sugar-cane spirit grogue.

What to look for

• Cachupa - the hearty slow-cooked national corn-and-bean stew.
• The fresh fish and seafood - the tuna, grouper and lobster.
• Grogue and ponche - the sugar-cane spirit and its liqueur.
• The tropical produce - the fruit and island vegetables.

When to go

Year-round; simple local eateries serve cachupa and the day's fresh catch, best enjoyed by the sea, and markets brim with fish and tropical fruit. Cape Verde's morna-soundtracked, laid-back dining culture, often accompanied by music and grogue, reflects the islands' warm, unhurried spirit.

Practical notes

Cape Verdean food is simple, hearty island cooking rather than a varied or refined cuisine, built on the slow-cooked cachupa, fresh fish and what the dry islands can provide, so its appeal is soulful comfort food and superb seafood rather than culinary complexity; cachupa's long cooking means it is not always available on demand. Fresh, honest and enjoyed with grogue and music, though, it is a genuine and satisfying taste of island life.

Nearby

The capital Praia, Mindelo and every island have their local eateries.