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Some like it magma hot - 19th May 2021

Outside Guatemala City, Pacaya volcano is quietly erupting. It’s sending lava flows of over 2,300 metres onto the farmland that surrounds its base.

However, one enterprising individual has found opportunity where others have only seen a threat. In a departure from his accountancy work, David Garcia has turned his talents to Italian cuisine, baking volcanic pizzas on Pacaya’s lava flows.

It was an idea that just sprang into his head.

David Garcia: "I put the pizza together one day, I brought it to the volcano and I put it in a hot cave that was approximately 800 degrees and it came out in 14 minutes. So when I tasted the flavour of the pizza cooked with the volcanic heat, I said, ‘This is a good idea. I can start offering a new tourist attraction here in the volcano that is unique’.”

This exciting environment is not without its perils. Pacaya is expelling ash from its crater and in March this, combined with strong winds, forced an ash-coated Guatemala City airport 25 kilometres away to close.

With the volcanic activity falling to more manageable and less hazardous levels, tourist access to the area has now resumed. And of course Garcia has put on his protective gear and dug out his special pizza pans once more.

David Garcia: "But in a river [of lava] I have to make sure that the pizza doesn't drift away, that it doesn't have a high temperature, so it was difficult for me to learn the technique here so as not to take out the burnt pizza. And it is also a risk to be on the shore because it is at a high temperature of 1,500 – 2,000 degrees, so I have to watch the wind direction so it doesn't affect me."

Garcia's magmatic cuisine has brought him social media celebrity and there’s no shortage of guests waiting to try out his lava-baked pizza.

But if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the volcanic kitchen!