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

The streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside have become Garcia's kitchen

Published: May 14, 2021 10:47 Compiled by Balaram Menon, Senior Web Editor and with inputs from AFP

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

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But for David Garcia (pictured), the streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside have become his kitchen. Image Credit: AFP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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 south of the capital. Image Credit: AFP

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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. Image Credit: AFP

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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. Image Credit: AFP

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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. Image Credit: AFP

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"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. Image Credit: AFP

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

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"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 Image Credit: AFP

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