5 foods from Terceira's Azores cuisine you have to try

We’ve been dreaming of visiting the Azores for years. We expected to find ourselves surrounded by stunning natural scenery, historic architecture, and lovely views. Happily, the warm and welcoming island of Terceira delivered on all of the above, but it also gave us something a little unexpected: a delicious education in Azores cuisine.

Among other things, we discovered that:

Azorean steak – grown almost exclusively on the island – is always served with a fried egg.
Speaking of which, eggs are never a Terceiran breakfast food!
Yellow/golden sweet potatoes are less sweet and more delicious than their American cousins
Croissants from the island are a little less flaky and may actually be better than French croissants (please don’t tell the French we said so!)

Boyfriend Perspective: We also learned what ribs are SUPPOSED to taste like. (Crap, I drooled.)

And on top of all this, we had several vivid lessons from locals in the art of enjoying Azorean cuisine, particularly traditional dishes native to Terceira. As a note, if you ever stop on the island, we highly recommend you bring your Thanksgiving pants so you can try all of the following at least twice.

Table of Contents

Dona Amelia

Boyfriend Perspective: First of all, when you hear people say this pastry (as an English speaker), it sounds like “donuh-meelya”. Like… what? And then we saw it written out and felt ridiculous.

When we first ordered Dona Amelia, we didn’t know what we were getting. It’s kind of weird to order a dessert named for a human you’ve never heard of, right? We discovered that the story behind the name is actually quite simple. The cake has existed on the island for hundreds of years as “Indianos”, but was favored by Portuguese queen Dona Amelia on her last visit to the island in 1901. So, Terceira renamed its signature pastry in her honor.

Back to the actual cake. Imagine being served a small plate with a slice of dense, dark, mildly sweet cake dusted with powdered sugar to accompany your freshly-brewed after dinner coffee. This endemic Terceira dessert incorporates flavors of raisins, chocolate, and cinnamon into a rich, moist confection that makes any cup of coffee better. And this was just the version served in our hotel restaurant!

Boyfriend Perspective: But as we’ve learned, never rely solely on the hotel for a realistic view of things.

Once we got out and began walking around Angra do Heroismo, we found that bakeries like Athanásio (right across from the Sé church) have different and potentially more authentic versions of this cake, served at a more manageable muffin-like size. And if different bakeries and restaurants have their own versions, you know literally everyone’s mom also has their own version. We heard folks talk about their moms making it in big sheets, in muffin tins, and in regular cake pans. Even better, we were lucky enough to be gifted with a recipe from a wonderful local friend we had the pleasure of meeting there.

Filhos

When we started looking at deals on Azores Getaways in September, we didn’t realize that booking our annual birthday trip also meant booking right in the middle of Terceira’s Carnaval. In addition to the four short days of no work and four long nights of partying, Carnaval also consists of traveling bands of performers in the streets, dancing, theater, and some delicious food. On our walking tour around Angra do Heroismo – the largest city on the island – we stopped at the Mercado Duque de Bragança, a largely open air market that sits in one of the older parts of the city. Amidst the fish, meats, veggies, and every other kind of stall you can think of you’ll find the Casa dos Biscoitos, a small bakery with very bright green walls. Our guide told us the cookies there would blow us away (she was right, duh), but it was also the first place we tried filhos.

Boyfriend Perspective: Dude, those cookies, though. Make sure you get extra to carry around with you. They’re so little and so good! And watch out of your person has a sweet tooth. She might just… *borrow* them… from your bag… when you’re not looking… Meagan…

Filhoses de forno are one of the foods that only really come around at Carnaval time. Like a cross between a profiterole and a filled donut, they’re best eaten with a fork because the delicious lemon cream filling inside them makes them an absolutely scrumptious mess to eat. According to À Moda do Flavio, they’re traditionally prepared alongside other dishes during Carnaval to offer to visitors. But now, you can find them all over the island in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday.

From what we found, the lemon cream filling can have a range of sweetness. After trying it for the first time at Casa dos Biscoitos, we found perhaps our favorite version of filhos at Athanásio. The cream had more sharpness and tang than the first one we tried, which made us both even happier (after all, we like our wines dry and our citrus sharp!).

Alcatra

Whenever we visit a new city or country, we always try to take a food tour. After all, food and culture play together pretty closely, right? So, we scheduled a food tour on our Terceira trip. And what was the centerpiece of our tour? Alcatra. This hearty, thick, pot roast-meets-stew beef dish dates far back into Terceiran cuisine. Bulls play an extremely significant role in the island’s history, as legend says bulls helped defeat a Spanish military invasion. Because they were so special, bulls weren’t often killed for meat, and beef wasn’t a big part of the Terceiran diet. But once a bull got past its prime and had outlived its usefulness, it would be slaughtered and the whole town would be fed. The only hiccup? Old meat is tough meat. The solution? Seasoning and slow cooking the meat to make the texture and flavor more palatable.

And so we have modern-day alcatra, served in a terracotta pot as the main course of any traditional Terceiran dinner. Side dishes often include roasted seasonal veggies, sweet bread (which bears a notable resemblance to Southern US cornbread), and rice.

Boyfriend Perspective: Now THIS is why I’m here. Amazing meat stew? Potatoes? Bread? You’ve literally just listed everything in this world that I love. And Meagan. But also bread.

Personally, I haven’t eaten beef since I was 14. For reasons. (Doesn’t mean that Luke doesn’t get to enjoy steak when he wants, though!) But, because this dish has such cultural significance, I couldn’t say no to at least a little taste. And let me tell you – it’s delicious, even for a non-beef-eater like me!

Cornucopía

When we returned to Athanásio on one of our few free mornings on the trip, we noticed that a lot of the pastries in the cases were created on other islands in the Azores. So, we asked the woman behind the counter to suggest a few things that she thought were the most associated with Terceira. She gave us their traditional Dona Amelia (which we already knew we loved), a tasty filho, and a new (to us) treat called a cornucopÍa. This cute little mini-ice cream cone lookin’ pastry is covered on the outside with nuts or sweet crumble and filled inside with an ooey gooey egg cream.

Boyfriend Perspective: I was meh on this one, but we finished it cause it definitely wasn’t bad.Just sweeter than we’re used to from European dessert. And also gooey, which wasn’t really my thing.

Angra do Heroismo once played host to a number of religious orders, including convents. It’s believed that cornucopÍas came from Portuguese nuns living in the city and that they were associated with Christmastime, but not much is remembered beyond that. Regardless, while egg cream might not be something that either of us will purposefully search out in the future, this is a very tasty treat that you can’t miss while you’re on Terceira.

Queijada do Conde da Praia

Another treat from our food tour was the Queijada do Conde da Praia, or the “Count of Praia cake”. According to Made in the Azores, “The ‘Conde da Praia da Vitória’ cake comes from a potato based pudding much appreciated by Teotónio de Ornelas Bruges Paim da Câmara, 1st Viscount of Bruges and 1st Count of Praia … In his house, this potato based pudding was usually made by cooks, and was an everyday presence at the Count’s table.” Even so, this sweet treat eventually fell out of favor and the recipe was largely lost to time. That is, until a Terceiran chef decided to revive it. Now, Sabores do Chef, near Praia da Vitória (among just a few others) serves this confection as a part of its dessert menu.

When our guide informed us that we’d be eating a potato cake, our group exchanged some pretty skeptical glances. But this ain’t no latke. The texture of this golden-orange cake is smooth and almost caramelized, making it feel more like soft candy than cake in your mouth. And the taste is delightfully spiced and warm in a way you didn’t know you wanted… or was possible for potatoes. Eat this little treat with a cup of espresso after lunch and you’ll wind up a very happy camper!

BF Perspective: We tried desperately to find these outside of Sabores and had no luck. But they are so. good. Who knew potato could taste like that?!

Bonus: Kima Maracuja

It’s not a food, per se, but if you like passionfruit even a little bit, you will LOVE Kima. This bright, passionfruit-flavored, soda-ish beverage comes in a small green bottle and is a product of the Azores, specifically. The best part for me (the passionfruit-lover in this relationship), is that it’s sweet but not an American soda level of sweet. We found it in every market and nearly every restaurant we stopped into, and I fell completely in love with it. The only really bad part about it? It’s currently out of stock at Amazon *sob*