This unique cooking method uses the area’s volcanic geothermal energy and is an important local tradition.
I felt really excited to experience a tradition that people in Furnas have been practicing for many years. It was meaningful to see how this way of cooking is still part of everyday life. Trying the stew made me appreciate how the community keeps its traditions alive and how closely their culture is connected to the land and natural environment.
Near Furnas Lake, there is a special geothermal cooking area with dozens of cooking holes, called caldeiras (boiler or kettle). These holes are in warm volcanic soil where heat and steam rise naturally from underground.
To prepare the stew, the ingredients are placed in large metal pots and tightly sealed. Early in the morning, the pots are lowered into the holes and buried under the hot earth. The natural geothermal heat slowly cooks the meal for about 6 hours. Later in the day, the pots are carefully dug up and taken to local restaurants to be served.
This method has been used for generations and relies entirely on the natural heat from the volcano, making the cooking process unique to Furnas.
