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

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Agence France-Presse

<p>Guatemala&#x27;s Pacaya volcano has been erupting since February, keeping local communities and authorities on high alert.</p><p>But for David Garcia, the streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside have become his kitchen.</p><p>Garcia, a 34-year-old accountant, serves up Pacaya Pizza cooked on the smoldering volcanic rock to awed tourists and locals.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/COpyEiaMBZx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div 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</div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COpyEiaMBZx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Pizza Pacaya de David Garcia (@pizzapacayadedavid)</a></div></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/05/07/21/fresh-pizza-vending-machine-prompts-curiosity-horror-in-rome">Fresh pizza vending machine prompts curiosity, horror in Rome</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Many people today come to enjoy the experience of eating pizza made on volcanic heat,&quot; Garcia told AFP from a rocky area that leads to the Pacaya crater, and which he&#x27;s converted into his workplace.</p><p>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.</p><p>Wearing protective clothing from head to his military style boots, Garcia places the pizza on the lava.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s done, just let the cheese melt some more,&quot; he announces 10 minutes later.</p><p>&quot;That pizza looks so good!&quot; exclaims one of the tourists as the cheese bubbles.</p><p>Garcia&#x27;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.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/05/03/21/man-reportedly-sold-son-and-used-money-to-go-on-holiday">Man reportedly ‘sold son and used money to go on holiday’</a></li></ul><div><strong>- &#x27;Only&#x27; in Guatemala -</strong></div><p>He first started baking pizzas on the mountain side in 2013 in small caverns he found amongst the rocks.</p><p>&quot;I didn&#x27;t sell much the first few days,&quot; said Garcia, whose fame has now spread throughout social media. </p><p>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.</p><p>It&#x27;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. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/05/11/21/tingnan-aso-nagpuslit-ng-mga-sulat-ng-drug-transaction-sa-mga-preso-sa-panama">TINGNAN: Aso nagpuslit ng mga sulat ng drug transaction sa mga preso sa Panama</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Having a pizza cooked in the embers of a volcano is mind-blowing and unique in the whole world,&quot; said Felipe Aldana, a tourist trying out one of Garcia&#x27;s specialities.</p><p>He found about about the pizza joint on Facebook and thought: &quot;I have to have this experience.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s ridiculous just thinking that you&#x27;re going to eat something cooked on lava, but it&#x27;s something that you can see only here&quot; in Guatemala, said Kelt Van Meurs, a Dutch visitor.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/05/11/21/cow-dung-not-a-cure-for-covid-indian-doctors-warn">Cow dung not a cure for COVID, Indian doctors warn</a></li></ul><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1683953" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a 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<p>For Guatemalan David Garcia, the streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside of Pacaya volcano have become his kitchen.</p>

For Guatemalan David Garcia, the streams of molten lava oozing down the mountainside of Pacaya volcano have become his kitchen.