Cooked at 1,000 degrees Celsius: Guatemala's volcanic pizza

Guatemala's Pacaya volcano has been erupting since February, keeping local communities and authorities on high alert.

But for David Garcia, the streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside have become his kitchen.

Garcia, a 34-year-old accountant, serves up "Pacaya Pizza" cooked on the smouldering volcanic rock to awed tourists and locals.

"Many people today come to enjoy the experience of eating pizza made on volcanic heat," Garcia told AFP from a rocky area that leads to the Pacaya crater, and which he's converted into his workplace.

In his makeshift kitchen, Garcia spreads the dough on a metal platter that can resist temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit), slathers it with tomato sauce, a generous helping of cheese and pieces of meat.

Wearing protective clothing from head to his military style boots, Garcia places the pizza on the lava.

"It's done, just let the cheese melt some more," he announces 10 minutes later.

"That pizza looks so good!" exclaims one of the tourists as the cheese bubbles.

Garcia's kitchen has become a magnet for tourists that work up a appetite climbing the massive volcano -- one of three active ones in Guatemala -- located just 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the capital.

- 'Only' in Guatemala -

He first started baking pizzas on the mountain side in 2013 in small caverns he found amongst the rocks.

"I didn't sell much the first few days," said Garcia, whose fame has now spread throughout social media.

In recent weeks, with Pacaya regularly spitting out molten rock, he started cooking the pizzas directly on the moving lava, some of which has come close to population centers.

It's a potentially risky undertaking given the plumes of volcanic ash blasted into the sky by the angry beast, to which some local villagers pray, pleading with it to desist.

"Having a pizza cooked in the embers of a volcano is mind-blowing and unique in the whole world," said Felipe Aldana, a tourist trying out one of Garcia's specialities.

He found about about the pizza joint on Facebook and thought: "I have to have this experience."

"It's ridiculous just thinking that you're going to eat something cooked on lava, but it's something that you can see only here" in Guatemala, said Kelt Van Meurs, a Dutch visitor.

hma/ll/lda/bc/jm

FACEBOOK

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Indonesia's Sinabung volcano erupts
Medan, Indonesia (AFP) May 7, 2021
Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted on Friday, spewing a massive column of smoke and ash up to 2,800 metres into the sky. The volcano in North Sumatra province started belching ash and volcanic material at 9 am and the eruption lasted almost six minutes, a local geological agency said. Images showed a thick column of ash spewing from the inside of Sinabung towards the east. No evacuation orders have been issued, and there has been no reported flight disruption. Authorities have instruct ... read more