Espetada and Bolo do Caco

Espetada madeirense is beef cut into large cubes, rubbed with coarse salt, garlic and bay, threaded onto a stripped laurel branch and grilled over wood embers - the laurel is not decoration, it perfumes the meat as it cooks, and using a metal skewer instead is a shortcut restaurants take and Madeirans notice. It is traditionally hung on a stand at the table so the fat drips onto the plate and diners pull pieces off. It goes with milho frito, cubes of firm fried cornmeal, and with bolo do caco: a flat round bread of wheat flour and sweet potato, cooked not in an oven but on a hot basalt stone, the caco, until it blisters, then split and spread thickly with garlic butter while hot. Bolo do caco is sold everywhere as a snack in its own right and stuffed as a sandwich. Both belong to village festivals as much as restaurants.

What you actually see

• The laurel skewer - a stripped branch that flavours the beef over wood embers.
• The hanging stand - the skewer suspended at the table with fat dripping below.
• Bolo do caco - flatbread on sweet potato, cooked on a basalt stone, with garlic butter.
• The festival context - both cooked at village arraiais through the summer.

When to go

Year-round. A meal. Summer village festivals are where both are at their best and cheapest, cooked in the open.

Honest expectations

Restaurants using metal skewers instead of laurel are common and it changes the dish. Espetada portions are large and beef-heavy. Bolo do caco with garlic butter is very rich. Neither suits anyone avoiding red meat or gluten.

Nearby

Village arraiais across Madeira serve both; Câmara de Lobos and Santana have known places.