Comments on: Manchup: Cape Verde’s National Dish is a Savory Mix

By: kyle

kyle — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:22:28 +0000

Im full blood CV, reppin brava and fogo. My grandmother lived with me my whole life until she passed when I was 22, three years ago. So cachupa, kanja, and gufong were always in my home..Just had a bowl of this this morning lol..Cant wait until the St. John’s Fest.

By: Marcello

Marcello — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:23:59 +0000

I had cachupa for the very first time and couldn’t wait to find in on Google, and I am so happy I found it. I’m so fortunate I live at the height of IT.

By: gary

gary — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:12:26 +0000

I’m glad this provided a little trip down memory lane, jayd.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that there is no such thing as an “authentic” dish. There may be certain guidelines, certain techniques and ingredients, that define a classic dish–but actual execution is never the same (and never has been). Invariably, from region to region, even household to household, substitutions are always made. They may be due to seasonal availability of ingredients, personal preferences, any reason at all.

When I was at the CIA, one could always launch a massive argument by claiming that there is only one proper way to do something as simple as trussing a chicken. With 100 expert chefs on hand there could easily be 150 “only ways” to do it.

Whenever I see the term “authentic recipe,” I automatically take it with a grain — or teaspoon, or gram, or cup — of salt.

By: Jayd

Jayd — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:42:50 +0000

It’s always a breath of fresh air whenever I can read anything about Cape Verdean culture, especially food. My parents and relatives are from Fogo, Cabo Verde. I was looking for chacupa recipe and came across your page. I must say that the way my parents and relatives have prepare their chacupa has been very different from the recipes you describe. Usually there is a combination of vegetables (collard greens and or carrots), beans (dried Lima beans), hominy and pork. Peppercorn was an ingredient that surprised me since i have never heard or seen any CV from MA using it in ANY recipe. I do think that different CV use different variations. I recently went to France to visit CV from Sal and they had kidney beans in their chacupa…that was a first for me. It only makes me wonder have I been cheated out of authentic CV food all my life? :)

By: Roxanne McHenry

Roxanne McHenry — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:43:18 +0000

Thank you Gary for an excellent background on the Cape Verdean dish, "Cachupa" and Cape Verdean cuisine. My family (from Brava) called it both manchup and cachupa, and my mom's version is the dried corn, fava beans, kidney beans, butter beans, mandioca (yucca), kale, onion, pork or beef and pig's feet—typical of most cachupa I have eaten made by different Cape Verdean ladies in the SE Massachusetts Cape Verdean community. When I went to Cape Verde last year, some restaurants only serve it certain days of the week, and then many people eat the leftovers fried for breakfast. Of course, some ladies were/are well-known for their cachupa, like Mary Tabor of my childhood. I am surprised to see cilantro in the one recipe, as I don't know of one traditional Crioulo (Cape Verdean) recipe that uses cilantro. My mother hates it and my relatives from Djabraba (Brava) don't cook with it. But perhaps it's something new or used in other parts of Cape Verde. Best, Roxanne