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Food shopping on São Miguel: what belongs in the basket

The kitchen at Casa de Sonho with its long dining table against the volcanic stone wall

There’s no shortage of places to eat out on the island — but for us, cooking at home a few evenings is part of the holiday. The kitchen in the house is fully equipped, and the shopping itself is half the fun.

Where to shop

For the weekly shop, drive once to one of the big supermarkets in Ribeira Grande or Ponta Delgada. They stock everything, including the things you know from home. For bread, milk and whatever you forgot, the small shop in the village will do.

If you have time, look in at the market hall in Ponta Delgada (Mercado da Graça): fruit, vegetables, cheese, fish, all of it local and usually cheaper than the supermarket. Mornings are busiest; by the afternoon they’re packing up.

What to put in the basket

  • Fish. Tuna isn’t a delicacy here, it’s everyday food — fresh, cut thick, a couple of minutes in the pan, done. Alongside it you’ll find mackerel, sea bream and, if you’re feeling brave, lapas: limpets, grilled with garlic butter and lemon.
  • Cheese. The semi-hard Azorean cheese from neighbouring São Jorge is strong and entirely deserves its reputation. Add fresh bread and dinner is served.
  • Beef. The cows standing on every hillside aren’t there for decoration. The meat is good and reasonably priced — and there’s a barbecue in the garden.
  • Pineapple. Azorean pineapple grows in greenhouses near Ponta Delgada and takes almost two years. It’s smaller and sweeter than the kind that arrives by plane.
  • Bolo lêvedo. Flat, soft muffin-like rolls from Furnas. Toasted, with butter, for breakfast. After that you won’t want anything else.
  • Tea. São Miguel has the only tea plantation in Europe that has been producing continuously since the 19th century. A packet of black tea is the lightest souvenir there is.

Two practical notes

Supermarkets often open on Sunday mornings only — a Sunday evening shop will not work out on this island. And keep open food in sealed containers or in the fridge: São Miguel has a damp climate and very industrious ants.

The best of it happens outside anyway: grilled fish, a glass of wine and the sun going down over the Atlantic. You don’t even have to leave the garden for that.

Here you can see when the house is free.

Frank, Bärbel, Maren & Simon