Cuisine

Cape Verde 's dry, tropical island environment and its role in Portugal 's 15th-century colonizations have shaped its cooking traditions. Enslaved Africans brought knowledge of growing and cooking tropical crops. The Portuguese brought livestock. They used Cape Verde for feeding the crews of their sailing ships and as an experimental station for growing foods from the Americas , such as corn, hot peppers, pumpkins, and cassava. They also transplanted sugar,bananas, mangos, papayas, and other tropical crops from Asia . National food preferences, reflected in ritual foods, include an affection for dried corn, either whole kernels (hominy/samp) or ground to various degrees of fineness. The national dish, catchupa, is a stew of hominy and beans with fish or meat. It means home to Cape Verdeans everywhere. Xerem, dried corn pounded in mortar to the fineness of rice, is the staple of feasts. And kuskus, ground finer still and steamed in a distinctive ceramic pot called a binde, is a special treat served hot with butter and milk (kuskus ku leite) or molasses (kuskus ku mel). Cape Verdean Americans maintain most of these national tastes.

Cape Verdeans express their uniqueness in their cuisine. Immediately we think of the catchupa, cooked for lunch and stewed the next day. It is a dish for any and every day in both poor and well to do families, and is a wise expression of the archipelago that more than fills the stomachs of all who are born in the islands and of those who have come here to live. And xerem, a dish of thick corn flour accompanied by meat and the respective sauce.

And these are not the only dishes that make Cape Verdean cuisine a personalized creation. Camoca com mel, adjagacida (corn meal gruel cooked with favona), made with lard or fat. The cheeses of Boavista also include a great variety, including cheeses eaten with bread and delicacies, and the much praised couscous. Each of these dishes is part of Cape Verdean cuisine, which also includes fringinato, batanca, botchada, corn gruel, milho em grao (ground corn), caldo de peixe (fish stew), chicharro seco (a dried fish), prapa, rolao, banana de fongo, milho aliado, and the archipelago's flavorful sauces. Sweets constitute another line of Cape Verdean cuisine: a'ucarinha, sweets made of banana, guayaba, papaya, many from corn, such as brinhola, fongo, and filh;s (a kind of fritter), which is a delight when topped by cane syrup. These are genuinely local sweets.

Cape Verdean Foods

The national dish, "catchupa", is a stew of hominy and beans with fish or meat. It means home to Capeverdeans everywhere.

Catchupa is a slow boiled stew of hominy corn, beans, vegetables, spices and marinated pork or tuna. It is often described as the staple food of the Cape Verde Islands . At any given moment an inventory of the ingredients in a kettle of catchupa may even be a pretty good index of the economic health of family in Cabo Verde. What's in the catchupa might depend more on whether someone in the household has a reliable job and can afford to supply the kitchen from the village market place or store. Most Capeverdeans who reside in the countryside maintain gardens to grow a little mandioca, beans and perhaps some greens to fatten a pig for their catchupa. If it's to be a wedding or other very special occasion, folks somehow manage to get together and make sure that the kettle overflows with sausage, marinated meats, and vegetables. We call this a "Catchupa Rica".

Cooking catchupa from dry ingredients may require as much as four hours over a slow but steady flame. Years of drought have made firewood scarce. Locally produced charcoal is seldom in adequate supply. In rural area, women and children spend many hours each day gathering firewood (lenha). Despite government subsidies to make bottled gas easily available to all the cost to many poor families is prohibitive. Gradually the effects of drought and its continuing impact on agricultural production and the availability of affordable fuel have combined to transform the culinary tradition of Cape Verde . Catchupa rica has become expensive in Cape Verde Islands and something a family can only hope to serve on special occasions. Years ago imported rice was served on these special occasions. "Canja de galinha", the thick chicken and rice soup is one such dish, and is still served for weddings, funerals or First Night celebration or perhaps to nurse a sick relative to health. Today rice which cooks under twenty minutes is fast replacing corn as the staple of Cape Verde .

For Capeverdeans scattered in immigrant communities around the world, its always a special occasion when friends gather to share a well-made kettle of catchupa. These festive occasions are called catchupada. In spite of the amount of time it takes and the rising costs of making a catchupa rica in the United States or Europe , Capeverdeans everywhere will still make an effort to bring added significance to a social gathering by setting a pot of catchupa on the table. Capeverdeans trust in the "power" of catchupa to transform a simple meal into an occasion for storytelling and sharing memories. Catchupa can teach a lot about Cape Verdean culture.

Recipes for catchupa vary from island to island and from household to household. On Brava island catchupa is called muntchupa. What's in a kettle of catchupa may also depend on whether it has been a year of rain or a year of drought. In a good year there will always be greens, mandioca, potatoes, maybe squash, yams, and plenty of pork meat. In a dry year you might have to make due with corn, a handful of beans and a piece of salt pork.

Catchupa recipes can be easily adjusted to accommodate household preferences. Marinated chicken, beef or fresh tuna can substitute for pork. And for a vegetarian offering corn, beans and greens are one of nature's healthiest combinations.

But the best is yet to come - leftover catchupa for breakfast! To really prepare yourself for a day's work on a fishing boat or a night on the town, nothing sticks to your ribs quite like catchupa guisada. Fry up a few ladles of catchupa on top of some browned onions and let it heat up slowly until it begins to dry out. Some folks let it cook up until it is almost crispy on the bottom. Serve it with a fried egg on top "catchupa ku ovo strelado" and you're ready for anything life has to offer.

MEAT & POULTRY

CARNE GIZADO
(STEWED MEAT & VEGETABLES)

3-4 lbs. cubed meat, pork or beef
4-5 white potatoes
3 lbs. mandioca root
3 medium white yams
3 green bananas

Trim off excess fat, season and marinate meat overnight with salt, garlic, vinegar, bay leaf, and pepper. Peel and cut up potatoes, yams, mandioca, and green bananas. In a pot, cook meat with marinade and 3 onions with 1/2 cup cooking oil on low heat until medium done. Add all vegetables to meat and cover with water. Cook on low until vegetables cook. Season with salt, garlic, bay leaf, paprika, and pepper.

 

CANJA
(THICK CHICKEN RICE SOUP)

1/2 whole chicken, cut up
2 medium onions, chopped
3-4 chicken boullion cubes
1 c. short-grain white rice (may substitute long-grain)

Saute onions in oil. Next, add chicken pieces, boullion cubes and a sufficient amount of water. After bringing to a boil, add rice and stir occasionally. Simmer approximately 30-35 minutes, until desired consistency. This thick soup is offered special family events and on New Year's eve.

 

CALDO DE PEIXE
(FISH SOUP)

6 white potatoes
3 sweet potatoes
l bunch fresh parsley
l green pepper
l red pepper
3 medium onions
2 medium tomatoes
4 scallions
3 lbs. fresh, whole, cleaned saltwater fish (examples: tautog, cod, bluefish or sea bass).

In a large kettle, gently saute chopped onions, tomatoes, scallions and green and red peppers in oil. Next, add fish cut into small pieces and water. Cover and bring to a gentle boil. Add peeled potatoes and chopped parsley to kettle. Reduce heat and simmer. A little may be added to make a thicker broth.

 

POLVO A MODO ZE DE LINO
(OCTOPUS STEW)

2 lbs. octopus (or squid)
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons of oil
2 tomatoes or l tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic
l onion
2 grains of hot pepper (or as much as you want)

Wash and cut octopus into small pieces. Place octopus in a pot with two bay leaves and 3 tablespoons of oil. Heat on medium. Allow octopus to cook for approximately 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, cloves of garlic, diced onion and hot pepper. Heat on medium low until stew-like. Stir occasionally.

 

CORN/SAMP & GRAIN DISHES

CACHUPINHA

5 ears fresh corn (or fresh off cob)
1/5 lb. (100 g.) linguica (Portuguese smoked sausage),
sliced 1/4 squash
1/2 lb. (1/4 kg.) fava beans, (or lima beans) fresh or dried
2 ripe tomatoes (or equivalent tomato paste)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 peppercorns
1 bunch of flat leaf coriander
1 large onion, sliced

Scrape off the fresh corn kernels into a boiler pot. Gently saute onion, linguica, and pepper in olive oil. Add to the corn the rest of the ingredients and a sufficient amount of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer. Prior to serving, season with salt and garnish with chopped flat leaf coriander (cilantro).

 

CACHUPA RICA

4 c. samp (hominy)
1 c. kidney beans
1 c. large lima beans
1/2 c. shell beans
whole chicken
2 lbs. spareribs (pork or beef)
1 chourico (garlic spicy sausage), sliced
l blood sausage, when avallable, sliced
1/4 lb. lean bacon, diced
2 lbs. cabbage, chopped coarsely
2 lbs. tomatoes, quartered
2 lbs. green bananas, peeled and sliced
2 lbs. fresh yams, peeled and chunked
2 lbs. fresh sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked
2 lbs. hard winter squash, peeled and chunked (e.g. buttercup, butternut, hubbard etc.)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
Flat leaf coriander

Soak the samp and beans overnight. In a stock pot, heat six cups of water. Add two tablespoons of olive oil, onion, garlic and bay leaf to water for seasoning. Bring to boil and add samp and beans. In a separate kettle, cook the vegetables except the tomatoes with the spareribs, chourico or linguica, blood sausage, and bacon. Next, cut up and season the chicken. Saute chicken in olive oil. Add tomatoes, and let simmer until samp and beans are almost folk tender but not quite done.

Add cooked vegetables and meats into stock pot. Cook on low heat for approximately one hour. About 20 minutes before the cachupa is done you may mix in well sauted onion, garlic and tomato paste mixture (sofrito) to adjust and enhance the flavor.

Turn off heat and let sit in the covered pot for at least one half hour before serving. Arrange meats and vegetables on a large serving platter and serve the corn and beans in a bowl.

SUPIDA DE XEREM
(GROUND CORN WITH VEGETABLES & MEAT)

4 lbs. xerem (coarse ground corn)
2 butternut squash
20 kale leaves
l lb. salted pork fat, diced
3 lbs. pork meat, in cubes
2 lbs. dry beans
4 medium onions

Preparation: Soak dry beans overnight in water. Wash in warm water and soak ground corn 2 hours before cooking with l quartered onion. Marinate and season pork meat overnight with salt, garlic, vinegar, bay leaf, and pepper. Cover dry beans and salted pork with water. Cook about one hour and a half or until medium done. Drain beans when cooked. Cut kale leaves into strips and boil until medum done in water. Drain kale leaves. Cook ground corn in water until medium done. Cut butternut squash and gut out seeds. Leave skin on and divide into about 6 pieces.

Cooking: In a large pot, layer the following ingredients: squash at the bottom first, skin side down. Then add the pork meat, kale, beans, cubed onions, ground corn. Spice with salt, garlic, bay leaf, pepper. Add 1/2 cup oil and 3 cups water. Cover with aluminum foil and pot cover. Cook on low flame for one hour and a half.

SWEETS

COCONUT CANDY

2 lbs. coconut
2lbs. sugar
1/4 burnt sugar or molasses
grated lemons

Grate the coconut. Carefully brown the sugar but control for over burning. Then carefully combine coconut and burnt sugar to a little bit of water. Next, add 2 lbs. of sugar and cook. When the mixture is just about done, add lemon and mix. Remove from heat. Next, pound the mixture well for five minutes. Flatten on to buttered surface. Cut out into square or diagonal shapes. Let harden.

 

PAPAYA CANDY

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs. firm papaya
2 lbs. sugar
lemons

Cut the papaya into fine strips, then peel and wash well. Place the papaya and sugar on on a slow fire until the sugar dissolves. Cook for ten minutes, then set aside for a half hour. After a half an hour reheat at a higher flame, until the mixture becomes sugar-like or crystalized. Shortly afterwards remove from heat, and, using a spoon and fork, mold into different shapes.

 

PUDIM DE QUEIJO
(CHEESE PUDDING)

l lb. (1/2 kg) soft goat cheese (use freshest cheese possible)
l lb. (1/2 kg) sugar
2 cups water
12 egg yolks
4 egg whites

Grate the cheese. Boil sugar in water to the consistency of a thick syrup. Add the cheese and mix well. Next, remove the mixture from heat and combine with beaten egg yolks and egg whites.

Sprinkle the bottom of a pan with burnt sugar. Pour in the mixture and bake in a double boiler. The latter may also be accomplished by placing the pan with the mixture into a pan filled with hot water. The mixture can also be baked in a shallow, buttered and floured baking pan.

Bake in the oven. After removed and cooled, cut into squares and top with granulated sugar.

 

XEREM DE FESTA
(A WEDDING DISH)

4-5 lbs. xerem (coarse ground corn)
2 lbs. salted pork fat (try it with an animal fat substitute but you compromise authentic flavor)
4 medium onions
1 lb. pork meat, cubed

Soak xerem over night in the following manner: cover xerem with water; add 1 lb. of pork fat and 2 onions. The next day, place the rest of pork fat, sliced onions and pork meat into a large pot. Add xerem and a sufficient amount of water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until all of moisture is absorbed.