There are a lot of reasons to get excited about the food on São Miguel, the largest island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The abundance of sea life in the surrounding Atlantic Ocean makes the fish here a delicacy, and the tuna is considered among the best in the world. The island is also home to the Gorreana tea estate, now the only tea plantation in Europe. But the most exciting culinary treat on this 760-kilometre island involves pigs’ ears, chicken, and sliced cabbage—all cooked underground with natural volcanic heat.
Cozido das Furnas, a traditional Azores stew cooked underground with volcanic heat. All photos by the author.
Known as a Cozido das Furnas, the unusual stew is a specialty of local chef Paulo Costa, who promises to explain all. When we meet, Costa greets me with a hearty “Welcome to my restaurant,” appearing from the kitchen after service. His restaurant, Caldeiras e Vulcões, which translates as “hot springs and volcanoes,” sits in the heart of Furnas, a small tourist town perched in one of São Miguel’s many valleys.
Videos by VICE
Furnas in São Miguel.
Furnas chef Paulo Costa with his Cozido.
“It’s a proper family restaurant,” Costa says proudly. “I’ve been here for years now—for five I’ve been head chef.” There may be fewer than 1,500 permanent residents in Furnas but Costa’s Cozido has become a well known dish. “Basically, it’s cooked by the volcanic heat in this area,” he explains. “People started cooking this way because it was cheaper—using natural heat means there’s nothing to pay.” Costa also assures me that it tastes fucking great.
As we make our way down to the kitchen, my host gets talking about the dish’s history. “It has been cooked here for hundreds of years,” he says. “In the old days, locals would be seen stuffing a chicken with chorizo and blood sausages, before wrapping it up in a sack.” Problem was, although this method was cheap, it left you with a seriously dry bird, as the juices escaped during cooking. “Now, we put the dish inside a pot,” says Costa, gesturing over to the counter. “This locks the moisture in—a similar method to the mainland’s more traditional Cozido dish.”
Cozido is made with pigs’ feet, beef, chicken, sweet potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.
The corzido is buried for seven hours by the Lagoa das Furnas, a lake surrounded by heated openings in the planet’s crust.
