Madeiran food is simple, filling and built around what the island grows and catches. A few things to order at least once:
- Espetada: cubes of beef on a bay-laurel skewer, hung from a stand over the table. Best in the hills around Câmara de Lobos and Estreito.
- Bolo do caco: a flat bread cooked on a hot stone, split and filled with garlic butter. The island's snack.
- Lapas: limpets grilled in the shell with garlic and lemon. Order them at the seaside.
- Espada com banana: black scabbardfish, a deep-sea fish that looks like a monster and eats like a delicate white fish, served with fried banana.
- Milho frito: fried cubes of cornmeal, the side dish to everything.
- Poncha: sugar-cane spirit, honey and lemon or orange, made to order. The one from Câmara de Lobos is the original; the passion-fruit one is the gateway.
- Madeira wine: try a flight at a lodge in Funchal to understand why the British went mad for it.
- Fruit: the market has bananas the size of a finger, custard apples, passion fruit in a dozen varieties, and the "English tomato" (tamarillo).