What’s cooking at Burning Man?

After a windy 2025 and 2024, muddy 2023 and a dusty year in 2022, with a two year hiatus in 2021 and 2020, Burning Hot Pots will go back to the playa in 2026, to discover Axis Mundi’s drinks, brews and distilleries burners make in Black Rock City. One of the toughest places on earth for human kind, to survive. In 2013 we started 'Burning Hot Pots' to document and share “What is cooking at Burning Man?” with the dream to transform this in an exhibition and cookbook. Ever since the first year, we kept documenting what burners created in BRC, varying from astroNOT ice cream, biodegradable mouthwash, kava ceremonies, to beef jerky, nitro oxygen ice cream, and burning marry cocktails, to name a few.

Burning Hot Pots has visited many camps, dusty diners, volunteered in kitchens, spoke with creators, inventors, and spoken with many cooks who made all sorts of amazing brews, stews, potions and distilleries. Here on this site we will share some of the process and progress our reporters have made over the years. If you want to join the project, and become a reporter, food photographer, or have a recipe that can not be missed, feel free to reach out! We’re burning to hear what you have to say and can’t wait to share what you have made, while leaving no trace.

Once upon a time in the Black Rock Desert, Pizza came out of a Coffin.

You never know when you will run into an on playa pizza party in the middle of the desert run by a bunch of vampires, A bloody good story, you should have been there, maybe next time?

Cooking “Fish Ceviche Tostadas” with Mayan Warrior Kitchen.

In 2025 our Crew had the pleasure to speak with Mayan Warrior Kitchen Leads and Chefs, who shared some of their best recipes for fish ceviche with us. You hear it here first! Dry fish and the desert work extremely well together. One of the coolest things is that Mayan Warrior is totally trying to “greenify” their kitchen and making food for 200+ people and running an Art Car Sustainable, pretty remarkable.

Email us to receive the recipe!

Burning Hot Pots 2026 will be shining a light on sustainability, Leave No Trace practices and distill what’s cooking in the Black Rock Desert.

Driven by curiosity and built on the mission to document “What is cooking at Burning Man” Burning Hot Pots captures what Burning Man participants are doing to share meals, stay alive and hydrated in the harsh conditions. How do you deal with compost, where can you bring trash, what are recipes that you want to cook? You will find it here! Burning man 2026, let’s go.

Otter’s Kava Kava

A ritual rooted in Hawaii, Celebrated in Black Rock City. Back in 2013 when we met Otter, she shared her Kava Kava drink and ritual with us. Sipping from a Coconut, we learned about the tingling effects of Kava kava on our mood and mind. Forever a favorite to try, KavaKava is a specially brewed drink, with ancient roots. Otter has shared her recipe with us, something she makes at home, in Oakland and brings with her as a gift to Black Rock City.