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Goa: Catholic Tastes Lesley Esteves Combining global ingredients and local flavour, Goan cuisine is a broad church Mumbai owes its daily bread to Goamore precisely, to migrant bakers from Saligao and Siolim who brought with them the blessed pao. Yet, theres a tall story thats received far too much currency in Mumbai, about its pao being kneaded by the unwashed feet of bakers assistants, hence the name. But pao is a pure Portuguese word, and for proof Mumbai need only recall its favoured pejorative for Goans: macapao, or literally those who call bread pao, as did the early Goans who demanded at suppertime, maka pao digive me bread. Photo Credit: Darryl Andrade Goa continues to have a beef about this general disrespect. After all, it took the best of what Portugal had to offer, covered it with spice to make it palatable, and doused it in feni to make it digestible. In the process, Goa recolonised Portuguese taste buds, its spicy vindaloo becoming a star on the international culinary firmament long before tandoori chicken became Britains national bird. To say that the Ports changed the way food is made in Goa is to grossly misrepresent history. They blasted their way into Goan kitchens with forbidden meat and never-before-seen produce from the New World. Nobody can do without potatoes in India today. Fewer still can live without the ills of tobacco that replaced the ills of the tendu leaf in smokers lungs. But these, along with cashew, were brought to our shores by the Portuguese, a lasting legacy in their most prized colony, the golden HQ of their search for Christians and spices. But, as Goa discovered, conversion didnt end with mere baptism. The symbolic flesh and blood they swallowed to embrace the masters faith was a potent sign of things to come. All manner of heretofore non-kosher flesh, doused in wine vinegar to soften the blow, would follow the body of Christ into Goan gullets. Into kitchens that quite closely resembled those of Maharashtras Malvan came olive oil, and sheets of bacalhau, Portugals prized salt cod. Portugals other colonies contributed cafreal, in its original form wild chicken grilled by the kaffir soldiers of Africa. Brazil gave parra, the salted, pickled fish thats part of every proud Goan table, and a sweet cheese made from the Amazons native guava. Espetada was brought to Gujarat by the Siddis of Abyssinia, and didnt catch on with the vegetarian local population for obvious reasons. But it did make waves in neighbouring Daman, also once a part of Estado da India, headquartered in Old Goa. The recipe for the hybrid of Europe and the Orient that is balchao came from Malacca. Macau, in faraway China, restricted itself to elegant furniture and vases. Goa could not take this culinary assault lightly, so it gave back to the Portuguese what they had come searching forthe legendary wealth of Indian spice. The wine-and-garlic vinho dalhos was accepted, then infused with spice to make it palatable. The original Portuguese chourico do reino is recognisable today only by its shape in Goa, where its been transformed into the heavily-spiced choriz. Even the vinegar wasnt spared from mutation. Instead of from Iberian wine, Goa produces its vinegar from home-made toddy. The cashew apple, a strange and astringent fruit the likes of which none had seen before, was found to be as susceptible to fermentation and potentification as palm sap, and cashew juice too was turned into feni. The insipid Madeira was rejected outright, but, port wine being the beverage of choice for Holy Communion, all of Goa sampled it, and liked it. And thus did Goa chew up the meaty parts and spit out the blander bits of colonial legacy. Photo Credit: Darryl Andrade Any visit to Goa is a culinary experience perhaps unmatched along the coast down till Kerala in the south, outrunning by miles even the magical kitchens of Malvan to the north. But apart from fine-tuning the myriad influences from several continents on its cuisine, Goa has also carefully adapted to the changing seasons, so that no time of the year spells a halt to good times and good eating. The aphrodisiac alphonso mango ripens invitingly just after the grey days of Lent are over, as does the cashew apple, whose first distillation urak chases away the blues of 40 dull days when all kinds of fun are banned. By the time the monsoon comes, under the patronage of Sao Joao, the giver of rain, homemade feni is handed out to revellers jumping into overflowing village wells. Chief lubricant of many a Konkani conversation, feni is a deceptive intoxicant, taking its own time to turn you senseless, and also makes a great marinade, adding a mellow touch to Goas hot pork curries and the chefs who make them. The June rains mean that fishing boats spend the next three months decorating deserted beaches as swimmers and boatmen alike avoid angry monsoon currents. Go to Goa in the monsoon and all youll get by way of fish is prawn balchao and dried Bombay Duck. But being here in the monsoon makes you privy to lesser-known gems of Goan kitchens. A vast range of dishes is doled out to combat the seafood drought. The best dish of the lean months is the nondescript souraca, a flavourful thick gravy made simply by boiling coconut milk, garlic, chillies, onions, tamarind and a few spices, that goes perfectly with the plump-grained parboiled rice favoured by the Konkan. On monsoon nights, when the rain beats relentlessly against the ghats and splatters onto the tiled roofs of Goan homes, the aroma of steaming curries wafts into the air. For pigs are never safe in Goa, even in the monsoon. Their bellies, along with Goan toddy vinegar combined with garlic and a touch of palm jaggery go into vindaloos and roast pork assado, their organs and blood into sorpotel, their tripe into the rich stew called tripas and their bones into aad maas. A lot of whats left and plenty of fat are rubbed with masala, stuffed into pigs guts and hung out in the sun to dry. Walk through a Goan village and you know in whose house the aromatic Goa sausage is being served. Sweated over a slow fire, the fat in the sausage slowly releases its oil. Throw in some whole potatoes and onions and they cook in the same fat, absorbing the flavours of the masala, in turn absorbed by Goas gift to Mumbai, the humble pao. What a wonderfully economical and versatile animal is the pig. To experience the best seafood in the state, visit Goa in its high season for the Christmas-New Year week, when prices are higher, the shacks on the beach charge an arm and a leg for gigantic tiger prawns, and squid and shark reappear in fishing nets. Baby shark finds its way into solantulem, or ambot tik, made tart with kokum solam. Scooped off the seabed by the toes of fisherwomen, the xinanio or oyster is breaded and lightly fried, its crisp coat giving way to a delectable, moist interior infused with the aroma of sea salt. Go late in January and youll find it off the menu. Photo Credit: Darryl Andrade Less seasonal are the bangada (mackerel), pomfret and the most prized fish of Goa, the kingfish or isvonn, which are stuffed with a spicy-sour recheado masala and fried. Apart from the hallmark rich red nisteachi codi, these go into a range of fish curries, all unique, all soured with Goas bimbli, ambade or kokum berries. Cawrpa, made with teesria or clams in their shells, is a worthwhile nuisance to eat. The carefully prepared bangada udid-methi, which requires two separate sets of carefully roasted and ground spices and patience to make, and zawb, or mussels, baked with their liquor or pan-fried are must-tries. Its debatable when the best time is to catch a meal in Goa. A heavy chorizo-pao and fried eggs breakfast at Longuinhos is right up there on the priorities list with squid masala at OCoqueiro for lunch, or sorpotel and sannas at Nostalgia. What is not in question is the joy of Goa at tea-time. While the rest of India toils in fields and offices, Goa slowly wakes itself up from a siesta bequeathed by the Portuguese, an institution that must be protected if only for the joys of that other European tradition, the tea-time spread. In the long unbroken stretch of palms that is the Konkan coast, nowhere else can one find a comparable range of sweets of the like that Goa offers, which introduced European extravagance to the simplicity of peasant Konkan cooking. Desserts are mostly simple in these parts, like the mango-pulp ambavadi of Vengurla and the steamed modak of Ganapatipule. So, outsiders have often expressed amazement at the extraordinary effort entailed in producing the simplest of Goan sweets, as if the quality of the food were directly related to the amount of time it takes to make them Many of Goas most popular cakes, including the rich bebinca, were developed in Goas convents and monasteries, where time is never in too short supply. With the same basic ingredients of rice flour, coconut milk, golden palm jaggery, semolina and eggs, a formidable array of sweets and savouries rouse the Goan from an afternoons rest. The preparation of the unfathomably complicated apa de camarao, a savoury cake stuffed with spiced prawns, begins a night before, so the toddy can slowly ferment the batter of ground rice, semolina, egg and coconut milk. The next afternoon the apa is baked and served at tea-time, with delightful little fofosdeep-fried fish balls, or minced beef croquettes. Sweet flesh is prised off tender, tender coconuts, cut into thin strips, soaked in a thick sugar syrup and stuck onto coloured paper to produce teias de aranhas. Delicate rose-de-coc waffles share space with kul-kuls, curls of fried sweetened dough that are dunked into hot tea. Jaggery, rice flour and coconut in two different combinations become the dusty sweet pinaca, or the unfortunately-named bol-de-coc. Photo Credit: Darryl Andrade Across the Mandovi and Zuari rivers, in Goas Hindu heartland, food more closely resembles the cuisine of the Maharashtrian Konkan. As fiercely as they resisted proselytisation, Ponda resisted the invasion of even a trace of vinegar into its cooking pots. Among the best culinary experiences in Goa are the tours into the spice plantations that dot Ponda, which offer a cuisine as untouched as the sacred groves in the forests of Sanguem and Satari. Many farmers have opened their spice farms to tourists, so you can see for yourself the wealth that made India so attractive to Europe. Step in for a welcome cup of lemon grass tea, as you stroll through fragrant plantations where fat pods of vanilla hang off delicate orchid stems and cinnamon and clove plants line the pathways towards thick cashew groves. Post-tour, a lunch made of farm-fresh ingredients is on offer, which typically comprises a soft banana flower or tender jackfruit bhaji, crisp fried fish, smooth prawn curry poured over fragrant rice, amti, papad and tangy lime pickle. With a 100-km coastline teeming with fish, smoky hills covered with mango and cashew groves, lowlands fragrant with the aroma of spice and rich red earth producing fat red-flecked rice, Goa to the foodie is a bottomless pit of goodies. There are literally thousands of eateries here, most of them on the beaches and the best ones tucked away in quiet corners of Goas villages. The only problem the hungry holidayer will face is when to stop eating, once they start. USEFUL FACTS In the north Jaws (0832-2273593, 2274515) in Vagator for mackarel recheado. Crab Key Restaurant in Anjuna for masala crabs and crab curry. Indian Treasure at Arpora (2281303) for Goas famous pigling, plus duck and turkey. Sun Set (2275565) at Baga is right on the creek. The speciality is cafreal, but be sure to try the bacalhau at Casa Portuguesa (2277024) in Baga. Hotel Souza Lobo (2276463), bang on Calangute Beach, is the place for curried king fish, but the pick is the mixed seafood grill. Visit also OJardim (2276066) nearby. Cajueiro, on NH17 in Alto de Porvorim, for the rare pomfret cafreal. OCoqueiro, just down the road, for squid masala and huge feni shots. In the colonial capital Panjim, have lunch at George Restaurant right opposite the flamboyantly baroque Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. Have one mackerel recheado, followed by Goa sausage or fish-curry-rice, with a chilled beer. OCozinheiro (2228234) has a great rustic setting in Caranzalem, very close to Panjim. Their speciality is sorpotel and sannas, but they also have good seafood. White House Bar & Rest (2221239) makes the best prawn curry in Dona Paula. In Ponda, take the spice route. Call Tropical Spice Plantation (2340329), Savoi Plantation (2340272) or Sahakari Spice Farms (2312386) for a traditional Goan Hindu culinary morning. In the south Martins Corner (2721391) at Betalbatimwhich claims that Gregory Peck and Roger Moore ate herefor succulent seafood. At Utorda, make for the famous Zeebop by the Sea shack (2755333) for more seafood. Longuinhos in Margao (2739908) is the most important stop on any culinary tour of Goa. Have a chorizo-and-eggs breakfast and soak in colonial Margao from the place where the Portuguese Governor General threw wild parties. Nostalgia at Uzro in Raia (2777054) promises "tastes of the days Grandpa fancied Grandma". Try chef Fernando da Costas tart Goan prawn curry-rice, sample sorpotel and sannas. Kentuckee Seafood (2788107) on Colva Beach is renowned for the size of its lobsters. Call Alisons Riverside Hotel (2760493, 2762917) in Cavelossim for details on the pick-up point for a boat ride across River Sal to the restaurant for a Goan dinner. If you get seasick, opt for Goan Village by the River Sal nearby (2871461/ 629). Ask here for dolphin trips. Also next door, family-run Dois Coqueiros Restaurant (2871128) offers home-style Goan cooking. Near the Leela Palace, Bettys Place (2746456) offers special prawn balchao and pomfret recheado. Sunset Bar & Restaurant at Agonda (2647381) for fish curry, beef steak and beef vindaloo. Best known for fine food in Agonda, though, is Dunhill Beach Resort, who serve a hearty chicken xacuti. At tea-time, visit one of the oldest bakeries in Goa, the Confeitaria 31 de Janueiro in Panjims Fontainhas ward (2225791). Sample Goan sweets from bols and doce to pinaca and guava cheese. But the best bakers in Goa come from Salcette taluka, so indulge your sweet tooth in Margao. Goa Bakers is in the lane leading south from the Municipal Corporation building, a short walk away from Longuinhos. Call this excellent Helpline, 2412121, and ask for a restaurant serving Goan food in your area.