Beef cut into thick cubes, rubbed with garlic and coarse salt, threaded onto a fresh bay-laurel branch and hung over wood coals. The laurel scents the meat from the inside as the fat renders down.

Espetada began as a cattle-herders' and festival dish in the Madeiran interior, cooked on branches cut from the laurel woods that cover the island's slopes. The wooden skewer is not a garnish. Green laurel does not burn through, and its oils pass into the beef while it sits over the embers. Restaurants now hang the finished skewer from a metal stand at the table so the juices drip onto bolo do caco below. Câmara de Lobos and Estreito de Câmara de Lobos built their reputations on it, but every Funchal grill runs a version.

3 editor picks for Espetada in Funchal, ranked by editorial score. All Funchal signature dishes · Espetada across every city.