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Cape verde cuisine: easy family recipes in the blog

Cape Verdean Cuisine: Easy Family Recipes Inside!

If you’re looking for information on traditional Cape Verdean cuisine, you’ve landed in the right place. 

Trying new foods while traveling adds so much to the experience. But as parents we understand the struggle in getting picky eaters to try new dishes. It doesn’t have to be this way!

You can introduce new flavours to your kids before your trip has even started. That’s exactly what we did. It helped our picky eater work through his food anxieties ahead of time.

Along with the delicious family meals we enjoyed at home, we were able to savor more Cape Verdean dishes during our holiday. Immersing ourselves in such an important part of Cape Verdean culture helped us create some unforgettable family memories.

In this article, I’ll share some kid-friendly Cape Verde recipes to help you get started!

For Cape Verde Travel We Recommend…

What Food Is Cape Verde Known For?

Cape Verdean food is a delightful blend of West African, Portuguese, and Brazilian flavors.

Cachupa is the national dish. It’s a rich slow-cooked stew made with hominy (slow-cooked corn), beans and an assortment of locally grown vegetables. These can include sweet potatoes, plantains, squash, and yam.

There are different versions of this go-to dish: 

  • cachupa pobra (poor) which contains only vegetables  
  • cachupa rica (rich) which also contains meat such as tuna, chorizo sausage, or pork
  • cachupa refogada (or cachupa guisado) is a popular dish served up on the breakfast menu. It’s a delicious hash made out of cachupa leftovers, onion, and fried eggs. Delicious!

The national dish will differ in ingredients and the way it’s made across the Cape Verde archipelago.

Cape Verde is also known for the fresh fish dishes found in abundance on local menus. The fish and crustaceans are caught straight from the Atlantic Ocean. Tuna, mackerel, grouper, snapper, dorado, swordfish, moray eel, and lobster are just a few you’ll see served up.

Cape Verdean Food Names

Here are some of Cape Verdean favorites you’ll often find on the restaurant menus. You could challenge the kids to memorise their names so they can help you out when ordering…

  • Arroz [rice] de Marisco [seafood]: A Portuguese dish of rice and seafood
  • Arroz [rice] de Piexe [fish]: A Portuguese dish of rice and fish
  • Bife [steak] de Atum [tuna]: Tuna steak
  • Bife [steak] Serra [swordfish]: Swordfish steak
  • Búzio Cabra: Seafood dish made from the bubonian conch (sea snail found off the Cape Verde shores)
  • Cabrito: Baby Goat
  • Caldo [soup] de Peixa [fish]: Fish soup with potatoes and vegetables
  • Canja [soup with rice or pasta] de Galinha [chicken]: Chicken Soup with Rice
  • Feijoada: Black bean stew with pork or beef (popular in Brazilian and Portuguese cuisine)
  • Frango [chicken] Assado [roasted]: Portuguese roasted chicken
  • Lagosta [lobster] Grelhada [grilled]: Grilled lobster usually served with rice or vegetables
  • Lapas: Mussels, limpets and peppers
  • Legumes [vegetables] Cozido [cooked]: Cooked vegetables
  • Pastel d’Atum: Fried tuna pastries (like empanada)
  • Polvo: Octopus
  • Xerem: Portuguese cornmeal

Experience the Most Authentic Cape Verdean Cuisine On Your Vacation  

Big resorts are most concerned with catering to global cuisines. For this reason, venturing out to local restaurants is a better way to get a true taste of Cape Verde.

Even better, seek out the hidden gems where locals dine!  Ask hotel staff for recommendations – their insights might lead you to the best local venues.

Want to take it a step further? For a truly immersive experience, consider using the ResiRest app  to book a meal in the home of Cape Verdean locals. You can choose from meat, fish, or vegetarian dishes. For only 30 Euros per person, you can try the best Cape Verdean recipes passed down through generations.

Why Introduce Kids to Traditional Cape Verdean Cuisine?

As a slow-traveling family, we find great joy in immersing our children in diverse cultures – especially through the traditional dishes.

Most Cape Verde resorts will offer you all the international cuisine you could want – Indian, Chinese, French and Italian food, not forgetting sushi. 

But we’re not in Italy, or China, or any of those other countries. We’ve traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, to these tiny islands just off West Africa. Places that are steeped in rich history and traditions. Surely, we’re missing out if we cannot share in the unique cuisine of Cape Verde!

Tasting dishes that are deeply intertwined with local history, traditions, and values connects you to the true essence of a place. 

​And that experience isn’t reserved only for adults – kids can also create their own connection to the places you visit. It’ll just take a little extra effort and preparation.

We often prepare our kids for new flavors before we even arrive at a new destination. The result is that our picky eater can immerse himself in new cultural experiences without the anxiety that comes with trying completely new foods.

As a side note – some of the dishes we thought he’d struggle with most are now his favorites!

How To Introduce Kids to Traditional Cape Verdean Cuisine

Here are a couple of fun ways to get the kids interested in new foods:

  1. Encourage them to learn the names of popular dishes in the local language (see above).
  2. Involve them in the cooking process. Let them see, smell, and touch the ingredients as they are prepared.
  3. Try substituting some of the ingredients for their favorites. For example: if they enjoy beef rather than pork, add that to the cachupa.
  4. Try pointing out 3 things you enjoy about the dish and encourage your kids to do the same.

Many ingredients used in Cape Verdean cuisine are familiar: meat, fish, beans, rice, potatoes, and vegetables. They’re just prepared in different ways and so can look unfamiliar on the plate.

When trying new cuisines, our children will always look to us – our reactions shape their reactions. If we’re anxious about trying new foods, they will be too. We’ve found that our kids respond well when we’re excited about the foods we’re eating. 

If you have more tips for introducing kids to different foods, please share them in the comments! 

Kid-Friendly Cape Verdean Recipes

Cape Verdean National Dish: Cachupa Rica Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 kg of yellow hominy corn
  • 330g mix of Fava beans, Kidney beans, Gungo Peas, Lima (butter) beans, Black beans
  • 120 ml olive oil
  • 2 L of water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 6 leaves of kale (or savoy cabbage)
  • 400 g of sweet potato, chopped
  • 400 g of pumpkin, chopped
  • 1 medium chorizo, sliced
  • 150 g of bacon, chopped
  • 1 kg of boneless pork spare ribs
  • Salt and pepper
Cape Verdean Cachupa Rica

Directions

  1. Preparation: Rinse the corn and beans.
  2. Boil the Corn and Beans:
    • In a large pan, boil the corn for 10 minutes and carefully discard the froth that forms on top.
    • Add the beans, 1 bay leaf, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bring back to the boil.
    • Reduce to medium heat (a slow and steady boil) and cook for an hour. Ensure there is enough water to cover the corn and beans throughout cooking. Leave the pan lid slightly ajar.
  3. Add the Meats and Greens:
    • After 1 hour add the boneless pork spareribs, the chopped bacon, the sliced chorizo, and the kale (or savoy cabbage) to the pan.
    • Continue to cook over low heat for 30 minutes while sautéing the onions.
  4. Sauté the Onions:
    • Saute the chopped onions, garlic, bouillon cube, and tomato paste in oil until very soft.
    • Add the second bay leaf.
    • Add this sauteed mixture to the stew and add salt and pepper to taste.
    • Continue to cook for another 30 minutes.
  5. Add the Squash and Sweet Potato to the Stew: Then continue to cook for another 30 minutes.
  6. Turn Off the Heat: Allow the stew to sit for 30 minutes so that the corn and beans can soak up the flavors.

Serving

Serve the Cachupa in deep dishes, making sure to include a generous amount of sauce. Tabasco sauce can be added at the end for those who like a bit of spice.

Cape Verdean Snack: Pastel d’Atum Recipe

If your kids like tuna, they will love these tasty fish pastries. They are very similar to an empanada, only they are filled with tuna. The recipe that I used, I found on Cooking with Mark & Oreo’s YouTube Channel.

Pastel D'Atum (fish pastries): Cape Verdean Cuisine

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Bottle of canola oil
  • Two packets of pre-made empanada discs
  • ½ a white onion, diced
  • 6 bulbs of garlic, minced
  • 3 small tins of tuna in olive oil
  • 1 egg
  • Fresh parsley, chopped
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Hot sauce (optional)

Directions

  1. Prepare Tuna Mixture:
    • Add tuna to a large glass mixing bowl along with diced onions, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
    • If desired, add hot sauce for spice (adjust based on preference).
    • Crack the egg into the bowl and add chopped fresh parsley.
  2. Cook Tuna Mixture:
    • Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
    • Add the tuna mixture to the pan.
    • Continuously stir the mixture over medium heat until it becomes dry (approximately 10-15 minutes).
    • Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool for 10-15 minutes.
  1. Assemble Pastels:
    • Cut the pre-made empanada discs in half.
    • Stretch each half slightly and place 1 tsp of the tuna mixture onto the dough.
    • Fold the dough over and use your fingers to pinch both sides of the dough together.
    • Use a fork to press down on the pinched parts to prevent the mixture from escaping during frying.
    • Poke a couple of holes in the top of each pastel with the fork to allow steam to escape while cooking.
    • Repeat until all the tuna mixture is used (makes approximately 40 pastels. Reduce Ingredients accordingly if you want to make a smaller batch).
  2. Frying the Pastels:
    • Add 2 inches of canola oil to a wide-bottomed pan over medium heat (adult supervision is recommended).
    • Once the oil is hot, carefully add 4-5 pastels at a time.
    • Flip each pastel with metal tongs when they start to turn golden brown on one side.
    • When golden brown on both sides, use the tongs to remove each pastel.
    • Shake off excess oil over the pan and place on a plate with kitchen roll to absorb any additional oil.
    • Repeat the cooking process in batches of 4-5 until all pastels are cooked.

Serving

Allow the pastels to cool and enjoy them as a hearty snack throughout the day.

Cape Verdean Drinks

When in Cape Verde it would be wrong not to try the national drink, grogue. Right? Made from sugar cane, this delicious alcoholic beverage can be likened to Rum. Just don’t get too carried away. At 40% alcohol content, Grogue packs a powerful punch!

And then there’s Cape Verde caipirinha – a Brazilian-inspired cocktail where grogue and ice are served over lime and cane sugar. It’s so refreshing!

But what about the kids? They could try a coconut milk chiller – a favorite with Cape Verdean children. I found the recipe below from Global Table Adventure so you can make it at home.

Cape Verde Drink Recipe for Kids: Coconut Milk Chiller

Cape Verdean Drink: Coconut Milk Chiller

Ingredients

  • ½ cup of coconut milk
  • 1 cup of cow’s milk
  • Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Mix the coconut milk and cow’s milk in a glass.
  2. Sprinkle cinnamon on the top and enjoy

Note: This drink should not be refrigerated – it’ll cause the coconut milk to congeal!

Key Takeaways: Enjoy Authentic Cape Verdean Dishes on Your Holiday

As a slow-traveling family, we’ve discovered the joy in introducing our little ones to other cultures through local dishes. It creates not only memorable experiences but also a deeper connection to the places we visit.

Of course, the recipes shared in this blog post cannot fully capture the essence of the authentic food you’ll experience in a Cape Verdean restaurant or home. But, introducing these flavors to your kids before you travel can help reduce food anxieties during your family holiday.

And so, here’s to the richness of Cape Verdean flavors, the joy of shared experiences, and family memories that will last a lifetime. Cheers!

Frequently Asked Questions

What food is popular in Cape Verde?

Cape Verdean cuisine is a fusion of West African, Portuguese, and Brazilian flavors. Cachupa, a hominy and bean stew, is the national dish. Seafood meals include Arroz de Piexe (fish rice) and grilled lobster. Meat options feature local specialties like Cabrito (young goat). Xerem (cornmeal), rice, and potatoes are often served with meat or fish.

What do Cape Verdeans eat for breakfast?

On Sundays, many Cape Verdeans enjoy “Cachupa Refogada” for breakfast, a hash crafted from leftover fried cachupa mixed with onions and eggs. Another morning favorite is “cuscuz,” a warm cake made with flour, cinnamon, honey, and sugar.

What is the national drink of Cape Verde?

The national drink of Cape Verde is “grogue.” Made from sugarcane, it resembles rum and boasts a 40% alcohol content.

What fruits grow in Cape Verde?

A variety of fruits grow on the Cape Verde islands including bananas, papayas, mangoes, guavas, pineapples, coconuts, and citrus fruits like oranges and lemons.

What crops are grown in Cape Verde?

Maize, pulses, sugar cane, and coffee are the main crops grown in Cape Verde.

The Best Online Resources for Cape Verdean Recipes

Crumb Snatched: Crystal’s entire blog is dedicated to Cape Verdean food. For authentic Cape  Verde recipes, I highly recommend a visit to her website.

Travel Food Atlas: This website provides you with recipes for 9 must-try traditional Cape Verde dishes.

More On Cape Verde Holidays for Families

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