Santa Maria
SĂŁo Miguel
Terceira
Graciosa
SĂŁo Jorge
Pico
Faial
Flores
Corvo
Real Estate
Gastronomy
Gastronomy
Alcatra
A typical dish of Terceira Island.
Cozido nas Furnas
Cooked in the boilers of Furnas,in SĂŁo Miguel.
Sopas do EspĂrito Santo
In Santa Maria, the tradition remains unchanged.
Biscoitos de Orelha
Wares typical of Santa Maria.
In Graciosa fish abounds off its coast and holds the place of honor in the local cooking traditions, in the form of delicious fish stews and baked parrot fish. The local lobsters and spider-crabs are an exquisite meal in themselves while the smaller crabs and goose barnacles can serve as tasty appetizers.
The focal sweets are rich and varied and include not only cheese-cakes (queijadas) but specialties with such names as encharcados de ovos, capuchas, bolos de junça, cavacas, barrigas, pasteis de arroz, escomilhas and massa sovada, the last mentioned being connected with the Holy Ghost Festivals.
To accompany the meal there is the famous white wine of Graciosa, light, dry and fruity, or then the wine called “vinho de cheiro” that accompanies all the festivals in the island. The brandy, aged in casks, is an excellent digestive and those who like sweet drinks have the locally produced wine called “angelica”.
"Biscoitos" vines. The first settlers came from lands where vine growing was a centuries-old tradition. When they saw the lava beds called biscoitos, sunny and only slightly damp, that covered part of the island, they immediately set to work and by dint of hard work managed to plant the vine shoots brought from the continent. This marked the birth, in the early 16th century, of the vineyards that cut the landscape up into rectangles of black stone. The phylloxera disease ravaged the vineyards in the 19th century but the initial “verdelho” strain was joined by “arinto” and later by “terrantas”, which ensured the survival of the vines on the island.
