What is Cozidho das Furnas?

 

This came up on a TV show (you'll have to guess where, I'm not telling) and I did more research on it.

It's definitely real.  And if you want to actually have the Cozidho das Furnas experience, you have to do some traveling.

So what is it, if you don't have the gastronomic chops to know already?

It's food, cooked in a special way.  That's my grab-the-audience statement.

It means "cooked from the furnace", which doesn't give too much away.

This gives more:  

Cozido das Furnas: Your Meal Cooked by a Volcano

" “Cozido” is a traditional Portuguese dish composed of various meats (for example: bacon, ribs, chicken, chouriço and morcela, a Portuguese blood sausage) and vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, carrots are the most common), boiled together. It’s a hearty meal, to say the least! But in Furnas, the cozido is special because it’s cooked in a large pot, which is then placed underground and cooked by the steam from the hot springs. The meal is slowly cooked for approximately five hours before you get to enjoy it."

If you're wondering about the spelling, I've seen it both ways. I liked the version with the "h".

So where is Furnas? It's on the Azorean island of São Miguel. I said that travel was necessary.

And it's even got blood sausage, so you don't have to go to Scotland to try haggis.

Let's dig in.

 

The video below shows how it's done.