Volcanic Pit · Underground Stew
Cozido das Furnas
Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
The pots are lowered into the ground and cooked entirely by natural volcanic heat — around 100°C — with no added water; the steam pulls the juices out of the ingredients to make its own sauce.
Beef, pork, chicken, morcela sausage and vegetables are layered into a tall metal pot, sealed, and buried in geothermally heated volcanic soil near Lagoa das Furnas for several hours until fully cooked. Sold by the plate at market stalls and lakeside restaurants around Furnas.
Why it's made this way: São Miguel sits on active volcanic ground, and Furnas locals have used the natural heat of the fumarole fields to cook communal stews since at least the 19th century, turning a geological quirk into a signature regional meal.
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