Cape Verdean food is hearty, simple, and shaped by the islands' history of scarcity. The cuisine blends West African staples -- corn, beans, root vegetables -- with Portuguese cooking techniques and the bounty of the surrounding Atlantic. You will eat well here, though you should not expect variety. The same dishes appear on tables across the archipelago, and that is part of the charm.
Cachupa is the national dish and the soul of Cape Verdean cooking. It is a slow-cooked stew of hominy corn and beans, simmered with whatever is available -- pork, chorizo, fish, sweet potato, cassava, banana, cabbage. Every island, every family, has its own version. Cachupa rica is the celebratory version loaded with meats; cachupa pobre is the everyday bean-and-corn version. Leftover cachupa gets fried up the next morning as cachupa frita, crispy and golden, often served with a fried egg on top. Saturday is traditionally cachupa day, and many restaurants only serve it once a week.
Fish is everywhere, as you would expect on an island archipelago. Grilled tuna, wahoo, and serra are common, served simply with rice, beans, and a sharp vinegar-and-onion sauce. On Boa Vista and Sal, the catch of the day is often whatever the fishermen brought in that morning. Buzio, a type of sea snail, is a local delicacy on several islands.
Pastel com diabo dentro -- "pastry with the devil inside" -- is Cape Verde's favorite street food. These deep-fried turnovers are stuffed with spiced tuna and wrapped in a cornmeal dough. The "devil" is the chili pepper hiding inside. You will find them at markets and street stalls everywhere, especially on Santiago.
Grogue is Cape Verdean rum, distilled from sugarcane in stone trapiches (traditional mills) on Santo Antao and Santiago. It is rough, strong, and deeply local -- quality varies wildly from village to village. The best grogue has a clean burn and a hint of sweetness. In the Paul Valley on Santo Antao you can visit distilleries and taste it straight from the still.
Ponche is grogue's more sociable cousin -- sugarcane rum mixed with condensed milk, honey, or molasses and flavored with lime. It is sweet, dangerously drinkable, and the standard celebratory drink at parties and festivals. Every household seems to have a homemade bottle tucked away somewhere.
Cape Verdean coffee deserves mention too. Fogo island grows arabica coffee on the volcanic slopes, and while production is tiny, the coffee is excellent -- rich, slightly smoky, and worth seeking out in cafes on the island.