Večera uvarená sopkou

Na ostrove São Miguel na Azorách sa nachádza dedina menom Furnas, kde je samotná zem živá horúčavou. Z dier v pôde stúpa para a zem je pod nohami teplá. Toto miesto leží na vrchole sopky a miestni ľudia sa naučili nechať sopku pracovať pre nich veľmi chutným spôsobom.

On the island of São Miguel, in the Azores, there is a village called Furnas where the ground itself is alive with heat. Steam rises from holes in the soil, and the earth feels warm under your feet. This place sits on top of a volcano, and the people here have learned to make the volcano work for them in a delicious way.

Skoro ráno kuchár naplní vysoký hrniec mäsom, klobásou, kapustou a ďalšou zeleninou. Potom, s hrubými rukavicami, spustí zakrytý hrniec do diery vykopanej v horúcej zemi a zasype ho späť zemou. Nie je tam žiadny oheň ani sporák. Iba teplo sopky pomaly a jemne varí jedlo asi sedem hodín.

Early in the day, a cook fills a tall pot with meat, sausage, cabbage, and other vegetables. Then, wearing thick gloves, the cook lowers the covered pot into a hole dug in the hot ground and packs the soil back over it. There is no fire and no stove. The heat of the volcano alone will do the cooking, slowly and gently, for about seven hours.

Keď hrniec znovu vytiahnu, jedlo vnútri je mäkké a jemné, plné chuti z dlhého, pomalého tepla. Vzduch nesie slabý zápach síry z parujúcej zeme. Rodiny a návštevníci sa zhromažďujú pri dlhých stoloch a z ich tanierov stúpa para, kým jedia jedlo, ktoré pripravila samotná zem.

When the pot is lifted out again, the food inside is soft and tender, full of flavour from the long, slow heat. The air carries a faint smell of sulfur from the steaming ground. Families and visitors gather at long tables, and steam curls up from their plates as they eat a meal that the earth itself prepared.