The Portuguese Stew That's Cooked By A Volcano

Portugal is known for many things including wine, beautiful coastline, and famous dishes like bacalhau and Portuguese egg tarts. Extreme sandwiches and meat dishes are also very popular, especially barbecue, which is called churrasco in Portuguese. The Portuguese take churrasco to the extreme with a dish called Cozida das Furnas or Cozido das Caldeiras– a traditional Portuguese stew that's roasted underground using the heat and steam from volcanic activity. 

The Municipality of Povoação, located in the Furnas Valley in the Azores, offers a booking service for restaurants and the public and rents out 56 volcanic steam ovens specifically for cooking stews. The stews are lowered into the ground in giant metal pots that will withstand the high temperatures, which can vary between 147-204 degrees Fahrenheit. It can take up to 7 hours for the stews to cook.

Cozida das Furnas recipes usually include pork, beef, chicken, cabbage, potatoes, yams, carrots, chorizo, and blood sausage. Sometimes, taro root or pig ears are also added. The pots containing the stews are sealed before being buried in the natural hot steam ovens to ensure that the dish doesn't lose any of its flavor as it cooks. Ropes are tied to each side of the large pot to lower and lift it out of the hole.

Volcanic steam ovens make use of geothermal heat caused by secondary volcanic activity, also called fumaroles. The ovens are made out of deep, natural cracks in the ground where the volcano disperses hot steam, reaching extremely high temperatures. Fumaroles can be found in areas with active volcanoes or in areas that once experienced volcanic activity and can be used as a source of geothermal energy to provide heat or electricity to homes.

This energy can also be harnessed for cooking, as in the Furnas Valley. Cozida das Furnas is a dish deeply connected to the earth and culture of the Azores people. It's a dish that represents culinary ingenuity and resourcefulness. Visitors can try this dish at restaurants in the Furnas Valley, which offer it as a regional delicacy to allow tourists to take part in a fascinating tradition that has withstood the tests and tastes of time.