What to Eat in Praia (Cachupa, Tuna & Grogue) and Live Morna Nights

In Praia, food and live acoustic music belong to the same evening table. Almost every bistro on the pedestrian Rua 5 de Julho and across Achada Santo António pairs slow-cooked Creole comfort food with the warm strumming of twelve-string guitar, cavaquinho and violin.

Five signature Cape Verdean dishes and island drinks

1. Cachupa Rica and Cachupa Guisada: the undisputed national dish of Cape Verde. Hominy corn (milho) and several varieties of island beans are soaked and slow-simmered for hours with sweet potato, cassava, green banana, cabbage, bay leaf and garlic; cachupa rica adds generous cuts of marinated pork, linguiça sausage, bacon or fresh ocean fish.
2. Cachupa Refogada: never let leftover cachupa go to waste. The next morning, the thickened corn and beans are sautéed in a hot skillet with onions until slightly crisp and served for breakfast or brunch topped with a fried egg and grilled local blood or garlic sausage.
3. Fresh Atlantic Seafood (Atum, Garoupa and Búzio): Santiago fishermen land yellowfin tuna (atum), grouper (garoupa), wahoo (serra) and barnacles (percebes) daily; order a thick tuna steak seared with garlic and capers, or dark, rich whelk stew (búzio) cooked with tomatoes and peppers.
4. Queijo de Cabra com Doce de Papaia: the classic Cape Verdean dessert: a slice of fresh white local goat's cheese paired with sweet, ruby-amber candied papaya or guava preserve.
5. Grogue, Ponche and Chã das Caldeiras Wine: sip artisanal sugar-cane rum (grogue) distilled in traditional trapiche mills in the green valleys of Santiago and Santo Antão (or sweetened with molasses, lime and cinnamon as ponche), and order a bottle of crisp mineral white or bold red Vinho do Fogo grown inside the volcanic crater of neighbouring Fogo Island at 1,700 metres.

Where to hear live Morna, Coladeira and Funaná

Recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, soulful morna (made famous globally by Cesária Évora) shares the stage on Santiago Island with upbeat coladeira and energetic accordion-and-ferrinho funaná. From Thursday through Sunday nights, cultural cafés on the Plateau and restaurant courtyards in Achada Santo António and Quebra Canela host live acoustic ensembles starting around dinner time.