1. Espetada

Espetadas are big skewers of meat and are high on anyone’s food tour of Madeira. Don’t settle for the shrivelled-up miserly ones they serve on small metal skewers in the tourist traps of Funchal. Do yourself a favour and head into the mountains to find a place that specialises in it – you’ll see stacks of firewood outside and smoke rising all morning as they build up a fire.

Place your order, and huge chunks of meat will go straight into a fierce charcoal fire. If that piece of theatre wasn’t enough, the cooked espetadas are hung on huge wrought-iron hangers in the middle of your table.

Beef will be marinated in garlic and olive oil so that it’s juicy, tender and tasty. Using a branch of laurel as a kebab stick gives the meat a herbaceous, ‘green’ astringency that cuts through the rich fattiness of the beef – literally and figuratively – enhancing the meatiness without overpowering. Chicken will come pretty much in quarters with a char on the skin that’s super crispy and all the fat rendered in the high heat.

Sides are typically milho fritos (cubes of fried maize flour), charcoal-baked potatoes and sweet potato, salad and bread. Even though the meat is sublime, the sides are incredible. You can’t leave hungry.

2. Sandes de marisco

Seafood is simple. Get it as fresh as you can, straight out of the sea; get the bits you can cook on a high heat as quick as you can with a fistful of salt. Serve with fresh bread and something zesty. It should be cheap, unpretentious and not messed about with.

The humble seafood sandwich is as good as it gets. Find yourself a little snack bar that just does sandes de marisco (seafood sandwiches) or sandes de peixe (fish sandwiches). The place should be standing-room only and filled with locals.

Choose anything on offer – octopus, tuna, scabbard fish, bacalhau (salt-cod) – and it will be delicious, filling and great value. My favourite is octopus escabeche – tender yet al dente tentacles marinated in olive oil, vinegar, red pepper (capsicum) and herbs.

3. Bolo do caco

This traditional Madeiran flatbread has a place in the pantheon of bread greats. Inside a wonderfully crisp and charred crust lies a fluffy interior that’s got a bit of chew to it. With its slight sweetness, there are hints of fresh donut to it.

The dough of sweet potato is kneaded into discs and traditionally cooked on hot stone slabs. Served warm, the best way to enjoy a bolo do caco is slathered with lashings of garlic butter. For a more substantial snack, have one stuffed with chouriço – the sweet paprika piquancy and smokiness of the rich pork-fat sausage turbocharge the already banging flavours.

Want to supersize that snack? Go for a prego no bolo do caco – a superstar steak sandwich that is Alfie’s firm favourite.