The region has a large number of sweet potato varieties. The Maderians are therefore very fond of this sweet and tasty root that can be consumed boiled, roasted or baked, and that is also used for confectionery. However, there is every reason to believe that its cultivation started earlier, since, more recently, Mendes Ferrão, a scholar of tropical plants, stated that its culture already existed in the Azores in 1538 and that in the second half of the 16th century, sweet potatoes, unlike ordinary potatoes, were already prevalent in Portugal, Spain and Italy. In an article published in 1909, Madeiran botanist Carlos Azevedo de Menezes said that sweet potatoes were introduced to Madeira in the middle of the 17th century. Sweet potato is native to South America where, well before the discoveries by the Portuguese, it was already consumed by the Indians of Mexico and Peru. Sweet potato is perhaps one of the most used ingredients in Madeiran cuisine. Mbatata is a sweet potato cookie from Malawi. For example, the Irish make a potato pancake called boxty. Mashed sweet potato in a bread dough is definitely unusual… but this is not unique. The ingredients of the Porto Santo recipe are exactly the same except that Porto Santo bakers let the dough rise three times rather than twice. The inhabitants of the island of Porto Santo, a small island in the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, that is famous for its warm waters and breathtaking landscapes, claim that the bolo do caco was born on their island and not in Madeira. Today, many use concrete slabs that can replace basalt stones.Įven if tradition has it that the bolo do caco is baked over a wood fire on this famous slab of basalt stone, today, and thanks to technology, cast iron plates or non-stick heavy-bottom pans often replace the original slab. This stone is called caco, hence the name of this bread. In the pure tradition of Madeira, the bolo do caco is baked on a basalt stone heated at high temperature, directly on hot embers. This unique product is the direct result of their ingenuity! The addition of sweet potatoes is the result of the cyclical lack of cereals on the island of Madeira, which gave the idea to bakers to compensate this shortage with the addition of the pulp of a tuber root. This influence is directly related to the cultivation of sugarcane and the first phase of implantation of vineyards, when the first Guanches, Moroccan and African slaves, arrived on the island, and contributed to the economic development of the archipelago.Īt present, it is possible to find similarities between the bolo do caco and a few North African breads, like flatbreads with little or no yeast, such as the Algerian kesra or the Moroccan harcha. The origin of the Madeiran bolo do caco is very distant and it seems to be the result of the Arab influence in the Madeiran society, which dates back to the 15th century. It has a hard but thin crust and a soft, airy crumb, as a result of its baking directly on a hot surface, and a slightly sweet flavor and aroma derived from the sweet potato. It is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about 600 miles from Portugal and about 400 miles from the Moroccan coast, an outpost of Europe in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.īolo do caco is a typical Madeiran bread, made from flour, sweet potatoes, yeast, water and salt. The island of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is a tropical archipelago with a wonderful subtropical climate and breathtaking views. It is called “the Pearl of the Atlantic” or, quite rightly, “the Floating Garden”. You cannot visit Madeira without tasting the ubiquitous Madeiran recipe: bolo do caco!
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