Furnas stew from São Miguel island

cut the meat, including the chicken, into large pieces. the sausages and bacon in regular pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut some, leaving others whole. scrape the carrots and cut in half lengthwise. turnips and cabbages are cut into quarters. open the chilies in half (these are optional).
all the ingredients are introduced in alternating layers in an aluminum pan. the last layer is sprinkled with coarse salt. cover everything with cabbage leaves and cover the pan with the lid that attaches to the pan's wings. put the pot in a bag, which is in turn tied with a long rope.
the pot is inserted into a natural boiler in the Lagoa das Furnas, the cover is covered with a wooden lid and then with earth, leaving the rope out. five hours later, the stew is ready and is removed from the boiler.
remove the cabbage leaves with which the stew was drowned (these are not eaten) and serve the vegetables on one plate and the meat on another.
in order to make the stew soup, all the ingredients must be placed in a white cloth bag and tied. cut white cabbage leaves are placed at the bottom of the pan, the bag with the stew is introduced and proceed as is said to cover and cook the stew.
the liquid that “distills” from the food gives the broth for the soup, which will be served on plates where slices of bread and some “branches” (sprigs) of mint have already been placed. the broth is poured over the bread together with the cabbage leaves that have been placed at the bottom of the pan for this purpose.
we describe the current way of making the famous oven stew. in the past, however, all the ingredients were introduced into the chicken, which was kept whole, leaving out only those that did not fit inside the bird.
this stew can still be made without a pan, but inside cloths. in this case, one or two white cloths are used, into which the ingredients for the stew are poured. the cloths are tied in bundles, put in a bag, tied and, finally, put in a burlap. gets into the boiler. the stew made by this process is drier (food juices are dispersed in the earth) and with a slight sulfur flavor.