The formation of the villages of the archipelago is essentially tied to the sea and the mangroves. Therefore, the most common dishes are fish, crustaceans and mollusks.
The region where the archipelago is located is called Dendê Coast, due to the large quantity of Dendê trees (African oilpalm), from whose fruit is extracted the dendê oil.
The combination of seafood, coconut milk, and dendê oil could not be better: moqueca!
This local dish can be made with almost anything: fish, octopus, shrimp, lobster.
Moqueca without the dendê oil is called “ensopado” (“stew”). It is also very tasty, and lighter than moqueca.
Another group of typical dishes are the sauces, which can be made out of mollusks such as the sururú mussel and octopus, or crustaceans such as shrimp.
Oysters are usually tasted in natura, while lambretas (Brazilian hawkfish) are cooked in sauce with several different spices.
Fish are excellent grilled or fried. The vermelho (red snapper) and the cavala (mackerel) are excellent.
Some crustaceans can be cooked, such as the crab, the guaiamum and the aratú (two different species of land crab), or grilled, such as the lobster. Sirí (crab), dressed and cooked, is served in its shell, called "casquinha".
For drinking there are diverse juices made of local fruits, such as mangaba, cupuassu, acerola, hog plum, cashew, or then the caipirinhas and caipi-fruits made with fresh fruit and the typically Brazilian cachaça (sugarcane rum).
For dessert, there are sweets made out of coconut and other fruits.
So, try whatever you can! Everything is delicious!