Madeira has a very rich Mediterranean gastronomy which includes both typical dishes and sweets/desserts. Soups are also a big part of the typical Madeiran diet, as the weather in the northern parts of the island can get rather cold.
For many years, the Madeiran people lived off the land and, as such, had vast amount of vegetables to use in their dishes. In the colder seasons, it just made sense to cook up some soup to heat up the soul!
So, as for the soups themselves, we can have many different kinds such as:
1 - Sopa de Trigo "Wheat Soup"
This traditional soup is regarded by both residents and visitors as a must have, as it’s a great soup to eat during the winter months due to its hefty amount of vegetables. The recipe can vary from person to person, but wheat, potato, pumpkin, salted pork (heavily salted to preserve the meat, it’s a common way to prepare meat for long storage), carrots, sweet potato, turnip, and chilli pepper.
2 - Sopa de Tomate e Cebola "Tomato and Onion Soup"
One of the staples of traditional Madeiran cuisine, served with boiled eggs and bread. It’s main ingredients are: ripe tomatoes, onions, red bell peppers, parsley, garlic, olive oil, fresh cream, and basil.
3 - Sopa de Castanhas "Chestnuts Soup"
This soup is perfect to celebrate the festival of São Martinho here on the island on the 11th of November, as Autumn is the time of year when chestnuts are most prevalent, it’s commonly found in Câmara de Lobos. This chestnut soup contains as main ingredients, onion, milk, potato, chestnuts, and margarine.
4 - Sopa de Feijão "Bean Soup"
In the winter season, soup a great start to any meal, it has lots of water and vegetables. This soup isn’t far behind in any sense of the word! It’s made mainly with red beans, cabbage, pumpkin, turnip and leek.
5 - Sopa de Couve "Cabbage Soup"
Cabbage soup is vastly considered the most common and popular soup around the whole island! This soup mainly consists of potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, cabbage, red beans and salted pork.
6 - Sopa de Boganga
Moganga or Boganga, are the common names given to a particular kind of pumpkin, that can be either green or white, giving this soup a fantastic taste! This soup is very common in the parishes of São Roque do Faial and in many of the parishes on the northern side of the island. Many of these soups have a heavy vegetable content. As main ingredients, this soup contains boganga, small tomatoes, beef, small potatoes and peas.
7 - Sopa de Peixe "Fish Soup"
Since Madeira Island is surrounded by sea, it’s only natural that fish is a huge part of the typical dishes, especially for the fishermen. This soup is generally made with fish heads and belly, along with sea water to give it that natural evocative sea taste.
8 - Açorda
Soups are a large part of Madeiran gastronomy and, as such, Açorda is one of the most typical soups, made with pieces of bread, garlic, olive oil, savory, boiling water and a dropped egg. The aroma makes this an excellent choice after a long day of hiking along the mountains.
9 - Sopa de Agrião "Watercress Soup"
This soup is also a typical soup São Roque do Faial, where watercress is most abundant and much juicier as they are found close to the ribeiras around the island. It’s mainly made of potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, watercress, olive oil, and courgettes.
10 - Sopa de Legumes "Vegetables Soup"
One of the more traditional soups, this one has a bit of everything in it. Most people around the island love it! This soup has as main ingredients beets, carrots and leek, as well as white cabbage and olive oil.
Porto Santo:
Porto Santo, like its sister island, has a varied gastronomy. The golden island shares some of its most famous dishes with Madeira.
11 - Sopa de Lentilha com Batata Doce e Abóbora "Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato and Pumpkin"
When visiting the island of porto santo, this marvellous soup is a must have and is one of the more traditional ones. It contains sweet potatoes, lentils, vegetable stock, chilli peppers, garlic, thyme and curry powder.
12 - Sopa de Couve com Carne de Porco "Cabbage Soup with Pork"
This traditional Porto Santo dish is perfect for those colder days. It’s a hefty soup made with different kinds of pork meat, cabbages, beans and potatoes.
