Cozido das Furnas is one of the most extraordinary dishes in Portugal: on the island of São Miguel, near the village of Furnas, pots of meat and vegetables are lowered into holes in the volcanic ground and left to cook for hours in the geothermal heat, with steam and sulfur rising all around.
Furnas is a volcanic caldera, all bubbling mud pools and hot springs, and the locals figured out centuries ago that if the earth was already hot enough to boil water, it was hot enough to cook dinner.
So they dug holes near the Lagoa das Furnas, lowered in pots wrapped in cloth sacks, covered them with dirt, and let geothermal steam do the work for six or seven hours while everyone went to church, or the beach, or both.
That dish is cozido das Furnas, and it is easily one of the most theatrical meals in all of Portuguese cooking, not because of any fancy technique but because of where it comes from.
Underneath the spectacle it is a very honest pot of beef, pork, chicken, chouriço and root vegetables, all cooked together until the meat falls apart and the broth turns into something you want to drink straight from the bowl. A good cozido keeps a little bite in the cabbage, while everything else surrenders completely.
You do not need a volcano to make this at home. A low, slow oven or a big slow cooker gets you surprisingly close to the same result.
If you have already made our sopas do Espírito Santo (recipe on the site), you will recognize the same instinct here: cook everything together, low and slow, and let the broth become its own reward.
Cozido das Furnas Recipe
Ingredients
- For the Meats:
- 2 lbs beef chuck roast, cut into large chunks
- 1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into large chunks
- 1 lb Portuguese chouriço, sliced into thick rounds
- 8 oz morcela (Portuguese blood sausage), optional (see Notes)
- 1 1/2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 8 oz slab bacon, cut into thick pieces
- 1 lb pork ribs, cut into 2-3 rib sections
- For the Vegetables:
- 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and halved
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into thick batons
- 1 white cabbage, cut into 6-8 wedges, core intact
- 1 bunch kale or collard greens, tough stems removed
- 2 white turnips, peeled and quartered
- For the Broth:
- 8 cups water, plus more as needed
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 cup dry white wine
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Season the beef, pork shoulder, and ribs generously with salt and pepper the night before if you can, or at least an hour before cooking.
- Preheat oven to 300°F. In your largest Dutch oven or stockpot, layer the beef, pork shoulder, and ribs on the bottom, since they take the longest to break down.
- Add the garlic, bay leaves, wine, and enough water to cover the meat by about an inch. Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, skimming off any foam.
- Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 hours.
- Add the chicken thighs, bacon, and chouriço (and morcela if using). Cover and cook for another 1 1/2 hours.
- Add the potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and turnips. Cover and cook for 1 more hour, or until the vegetables are just tender.
- Add the cabbage wedges and kale on top for the final 30-40 minutes, pushing them down into the broth so they cook through without turning to mush.
- Taste the broth and adjust salt. Ladle some broth into bowls with cooked rice or small pasta for a first-course soup, Azorean style, then serve the meats and vegetables on a large platter as the main course.
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