I want the borek please! Looks fab! We’ve cranked out the baklava already.
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Are your son and DIL visiting? Yay! She’s a fantastic cook, from what I remember seeing the things she made last year/time (and you posted them here).
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Lucky lucky lucky!
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Yes!
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That looks like something I can’t make. Really nice. Love soft/runny eggs, cooked every which way. I can’t cook eggs worth a damn.
Enjoy every minute. Especially in times like these.
Yes, well they’ve been here for five months, so lots of minutes to enjoy. 
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Lucky you then. 
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The broccoli is hidden beneath the eggs, right?
Found salt cod fritters today. The supermarket restaurant has different typical Portuguese dishes every day and I guess today salt cod fritters got their turn.
Big cubes are “milho fritto”/fried cornmeal. Smaller chunks are potatoes. Milho fritto is a side for almost every Madeiran meat and fish dish. The inside of milho fritto is completely white. Ate them in my first meal here and thought they were fried mashed potatoes.
Tender juicy braised pork. No name of it on the receipt so I have no idea what it’s called.
Like the Greeks, Portuguese/Madeirans looove octopus.
Grated pickled beetroots and something else.
Went on a beautiful walk today. Pounding surf on this side of the island. Not possible to approach the island by boat that’s why the early explorers chose the calmer side to land.
Unfortunately, at this time in the morning part of the scenery is in the shadow. Looks much more impressive in person.
The landscape in this part of the island has many dramatic visuals of powerful seismic events. I’m sure Madeira is a geologist’s and seismologist’s dream.
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Yes, a caldera right there. Beautiful indeed!
Not much time to do touristy things or to focus only on eating and drinking. That will be another trip sometime in the future. Blandy’s wine lodge is just around the corner from my lodging. So far I’ve only tried one set. Still not sure if I like “Madeira wines”, but I really like port and sherry. Hopefully I can try 2 more sets before leaving the island. Elsewhere I would never give it a chance.
“Dry” set "Sercial
Wines have always been important to Portuguese. Henry the Navigator gave orders for vineyards to be planted. The vines were sent from the Cretan capital. Madeira wines as we know today were discovered quite by accident and the rest is as they say, history.
What the (ancient) Greeks and Portuguese (and Romans, too) did for us…
Just a tiny amount in each glass but it’s strong and sweet so you don’t drink so fast and get sozzled. They have a lot of fancy chocolates in the tasting room, they know you’ll want them with the sweet wines. Not us. We could not drink more than these 4 tiny samples. No fans of sweet drinks.
I don’t like QR code thing. I don’t use a phone. The barrel stools are hard and uncomfortable to sit for long but cute, though.
Fruit monster in fruit paradise. Every morning I eat a big plate of Madeiran fruits.
From this morning: there’s passion fruit and there’s Madeiran passion fruit. There are 2 types on the island (one is not shown). Madeiran passion fruit, both types, are sweeter and milder. Not to mention HUGE, like most plants, flowers, leaves and trees here. Huge. Early settlers imported bananas from Macau. They are small and sweet. Madeira exports its bananas mostly to mainland Portugal. If there’s a suitable surface, no matter how small, they will plant banana trees. Every.where. pretty much.
Also from this morning: Madeiran sugar cane molasses cake. Not “Madeira cake”, which Madeirans called “English cake”.
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My oral hygienist says “do they have earthquakes in Madeira? Aren’t you afraid after what happened in Crete?”
Yeah, they have earthquakes here but nowhere, no.where. near the frequency and severity that Greece gets. I think Madeira is right on the African plate.
Starting tomorrow again we are going to the mountains every day until we fly back. Everyone says the weather is changing for the better in the mountains. Crossing our fingers, too. Doing the most challenging hike on the 29th, even the guides say it’s still challenging for them and they do it often. It looks like this:
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Well that’s a very good thing then! Enjoy the hike, and can’t wait to see more pics from your adventures. Thanks for taking the time to post and explain, and as always it’s off the beaten path, so to speak. Merry Christmas too! 
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What it’s like being in a warm place in the last couple of weeks of the year. Madeirans really go too far with the decorations. Nativity setups are everywhere. In non catholic and hot countries they do the same for the tourists, but here they do it for themselves.
This is in a small park around the corner from my lodging.
Typical Madeiran salad, “mixed salad”. You don’t see it but there’s half an onion on the other side of the lettuce.
The waters around here are very deep and full of fish, but no sardines as the food they eat is closer to the surface, and they don’t like the depth. The most common fish in the archipelago is black scabbard. Here it’s simply pan-fried. I must have got the belly. It’s very rich and fatty like salmon belly.
The sea bass is also nice.
It’s a simple local “snack bar” (not like the type of snack bars we have in the west). A simple eatery, good price-quality ratio, frequented by locals and some brave tourists.
Only one street behind a very touristy area. We saw some people who stopped to look but thought nothing of it and kept on walking. Good!
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Christmas eve and NY’s eve are the same everywhere in Portugal and its overseas territories… the whole country shuts down at 4pm (or even earlier depending on the municipality).
I brought my own Lindt’s 99% but wanted to try this one anyway. It’s OK, Lindt’s still better (and that’s the least I will bow to). The 85% and the bars are for the partner, I don’t touch any chocolate under 99%.
Honey from Nuns’ Valley is Madeiran, to take home. Already gone through half the Serra Mel (mountain honey).
Madeiran sugar cane molasses biscuits
Traditional sugar cane molasses cakes. Madeira used to be the world’s biggest exporter of sugar. Only the rich in the West could afford sugar back in the day. Only one small round of these cakes cake left and we are taking it home.
I call this piece “bromance”
The US is probably the only country on earth that does not appreciate tinned seafood. Everyone else loves it. This is a tinned seafood shop, a high-end one.
Is it really that simple? I wish. I also like other things so my life is not that simple.
In the background is a fair, there are a few food vans (of similar size, no trucks, that’s too big) by the entrance and they are parked on the promenade.
Tourist takes photo of Captain Zarco. Thank you, Zarco! Madeira was a big achievement of his career. When you come to Madeira you’ll understand. Madeira seems more successful and prosperous than some places in continental Portugal.
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Love the Life is Simple truck. Why complicate things???
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At Harborview .
Some dim sum, not as good as Yank Sing, some others; sliced beef, “pork ribs”, Kung pao chicken, Peking duck, “seafood” potstickers. The “special” fried rice was amazing.
Didn’t get pictures of everything.
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Love dim sum.
No plan to visit Hong Kong in the next couple of years, though. But hopefully some other countries in Asia where I can eat it.
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