Day 10: The volcano does the hard work

When we were at Furnas last time, we heard about a meal being prepared inside a hole in an area with fumaroles. And we even got to see such a meal being inserted in such a hole, and one being lifted out from a hole while at Lagoa Furnas.

So yesterday we made reservations for a lunch at Tony’s Restaurant at Furnas to eat said dish: aptly called Cozido na Caldeira. Cooked in a Cauldeira. So descriptive!

The dish is actually quite easy: take a huge aluminium pot, and stuff it in alternating layers with meat (Chicken, Pork, Beef, Blackpudding, Chorizo) and vegetables (white and green cabbage, regular and sweet potatoes, yams and carrots), seal it properly and stick it in a hole in the volcano for about 7 hours. What comes out is a stew which smells like and even tastes like a fumarole.

Yes, that is just plain odd. And arguably not quite as sensational as it sounded beforehand. But still, it is good food for a reasonable price (€10 p.p.) and the place is completely packed at every service. So if you want to go there, make a reservation as that is the only way to get in. And you probably should, as this stew is unlike we’ve ever eaten.

Before and after lunch, we visited several viewpoints and even walked around in the town a little bit as we didn’t get to do that last time we were here. Furnas is a great little place, and then you realise they’ve actually built an entire village INSIDE the crater of a relatively young volcano. But nobody seems to mind it, so you just act normal as anyone does around here.