{"id":24556,"date":"2020-12-24T18:45:14","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T23:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=24556"},"modified":"2020-12-30T17:50:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T22:50:39","slug":"furnas-fumaroles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/furnas-fumaroles\/","title":{"rendered":"Furnas Fumaroles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Miguel, The Azores (A\u00e7ores), Portugal (March 2001)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Furnas
Furnas Steam Vent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Furnas (map<\/a>) is reputed to be one of the most active geothermal areas in Europe. It is like a miniature version of Yellowstone in Wyoming. However, visitors generally don’t have to deal with swarms of tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steam and heat scorch the earth, leaving behind a barren landscape of hissing fissures and gurgling gray muck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cauldrons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Geothermal
Boiling Water in a Geothermal Vent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cauldrons bubble and boil when groundwater seeps into volcanic vents. However, this pool is not bathtub-warm like Caldeira Velha<\/a>. It would quickly scald anything touching it. Despite this, some claim it offers medicinal benefits. Nearby spas use mud and mineral water gathered from these fissures for various therapeutic purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And It’s a Kitchen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Cozido.
Cozido Cooking in the Ground<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Local citizens harness vents for an interesting useful purpose. They’ve built shallow concrete cylinders into the geothermal basin. Cooking pots can be placed inside the chambers and covered with dirt. Then a few hours later the contents have become slow-cooked “cozido.” This is a traditional stew of boiled meat and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we tried some volcano boiled cozido at a nearby restaurant and found it to be quite tasty. In the photograph above there is an open cylinder waiting for its stew pot, and behind it to the left is one that has already been covered for cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Articles in the Azores Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n