Cape Verdean Recipes

Cabo Verde is a chain of volcanic islands off the coast of West Africa, and its food reflects the Portuguese, West African and Atlantic influences that shaped the country. Corn is the backbone: dried hominy is cooked slowly with beans, cassava, sweet potato and pumpkin into cachupa, the dish most families would call their own. Fish matters just as much, especially tuna, which is grilled, stewed or tucked into fried pastries, while goat, pork and chicken appear on feast days. Rice and beans, cassava, sweet potato and green bananas fill out everyday meals. Flavors are gentle: garlic, onion, bay leaf, parsley, lime and a little hot pepper rather than heavy spice. Breakfast often means leftover cachupa fried with an egg, or a sweet steamed cornmeal cake with butter and coffee. Weddings, birthdays and saint's day festivals call for huge pots of cachupa rica, and sugarcane spirit (grogue) is poured for toasts.

Staple ingredients

• dried corn (hominy)
• beans
• tuna and other fish
• cassava
• sweet potato
• pumpkin
• rice
• garlic and bay leaf

• Breakfast 1
• Soups 2
• Main Dishes 3
• Desserts 1
• Snacks 1

Breakfast

• Cuscuz de Milho (Cape Verdean Steamed Cornmeal Cake)CV45 minEasy

Soups

• Caldo de Peixe (Cape Verdean Fish Soup)CV1 h 5 minEasy
• Canja de Galinha (Cape Verdean Chicken and Rice Soup)CV1 h 20 minEasy

Main Dishes

• Cachupa Rica (Cape Verdean Hominy and Bean Stew)CV4 h 10 minMedium
• Atum Grelhado (Cape Verdean Grilled Tuna with Onion Sauce)CV40 minEasy
• Jagacida (Cape Verdean Rice and Bean One-Pot)CV1 h 45 minEasy

Desserts

• Filhós de Banana (Cape Verdean Banana Fritters)CV35 minEasy

Snacks

• Pastel com Diabo Dentro (Cape Verdean Fried Tuna Turnovers)CV1 h 10 minMedium