A meal on volcanic soil

Four chefs offering volcanic cuisine come together to cook at the only restaurant in Lanzarote which roasts food directly on magma.

Created by César Manrique, El Diablo restaurant is one of Lanzarote's major tourist attractions. Not for nothing is it the only restaurant on the island that cooks directly in the earth, specifically thanks to the pockets of volcanic magma left there after the Timanfaya eruption in 1730. A curious fact: when the structure was built, the gap where food is cooked now was built to divert the heat to allow workers to carry out their tasks. It was not considered a volcanic restaurant until Manrique realised this, and transformed it in a bid to integrate it further with the surroundings.

And this was the magnificent scenario on Thursday, at Las Montañas de Fuego, at the heart of the Timanfaya, for lunch on the second day of the Worldcanic congress. It could not be any other way. Roast pork was cooked on magma at 290º by a local chef, Lanzarote's Tourist Centres' chef, Román Méndez, alongside another chef who also produces food directly from volcanic soil, bread in his case. This was Siggi Rafn Hilmarsson, baker in Laugarvatn Fontana (Iceland), who had explained the bread process during the morning session. Words became reality as congress-goers began their meal with volcanic toast, butter and smoked trout.

They were joined by another chef who cooks in volcanic soil, Paulo Costa from Portugal. During the morning session, the main man at Caldeiras e Vulcões (Azores) had already explained his “Cozido das furnas”, a “volcanic stew” he makes by burying meat and vegetables in volcanic soil, but he changed recipes for the meal due to cooking times (the stew is cooked for 7-8 hours), producing a cod "caldeira" stew which, naturally, was cooked on the El Diablo grill.

The quartet was completed by local chef Pedro Santana (Casa Brígida, Lanzarote), with a "vieja seca" dried parrot fish salad (a local catch), with "jable" sweet potato, followed by dessert, "Don Nicolás" cheesecake from Finca de Uga, with passion fruit. Rafael Espino, from Bodegas Vega de Yuco, was tasked with washing all this down with two wines: Yaiza dry white and Yaiza red.