Goan Food: Food for Thought?
Is Goan traditional food, as with a lot in Goa nowadays on a spiral decline? It appears no matter what the issue is, the source of all our problems is an evil four-letter word; sorry, it appears to have five; greed. As you know, this has been the story of Goa for a while now. And, the credit goes, mostly to Goans. Never mind all the ho-ho and endless arguments, and bad news; colonialism, Nehru and whatnot. Ultimately, our future and the future of Goa is in the hands of Goans which at this point in time is slipping steadily through our fingers and moving away into the grubby hands of outsiders, courtesy of ourselves. Now, this is not news, it is simply a continuum of a play featuring ordinary and star Goan players, old and new, dead and alive. We are truly our own worst enemy. Here's some food for thought as recently there have been a few stories in the media with reference to our cuisine, our world famous food which is a progeny of Indo-Portuguese culture. Nowadays, our Goan food unfortunately is in the news for all the wrong reasons. There appears to be two opinions on this gastronomic issue although whichever way we look at it they are inter-related. The first view welcomes the global restaurants which are making a positive contribution to the flavor of multi- cultural menus in Goa which I can understand as Goa is a well-known international tourist destination. People from around the world naturally want to try the traditional food of their country of origin in Goa to taste the difference! I work in Japan and when this Goan is on his next annual visit to Goa he definitely intends to sample Japanese food available in a couple of new restaurants in the north of Goa. Japan is a cold country and what kind of Japanese food will the owners of the restaurants select from the traditional Japanese menu, and what inevitable changes will there be is an intriguing question for me. Differences in geography play a large part in shaping our taste buds and sensibilities as well as food materials available locally, making a trip to a global restaurant - East or West - more exciting than the usual icing on a cake. The other view is the complaint of how outsiders are selling a lot of indigenous food from over the country in Goa, food which is not Goan. Why is this happening? Can't our world famous Goan food compete in our own backyard? We are now entering a grey area and so a cautionary word: we need to look at the problem calmly and not get hotter than some of our famous dishes. Tourism is suffering because of our greed. Over the years Goans have been subletting their restaurants and shacks to outsiders on our beautiful beaches, and they in order to make a profit after paying the Goan owner of the shack, more often than not have been serving spurious and/or sub-standard Goan food to make a profit. They have been giving us a bad name, haven't they? And, to add insult to injury, their menus include a variety of dishes from all over India. An eminent writer noted how some places in Goa might easily be mistaken for Jullandar. Tandoori chicken is okay but do we really have to kill the golden goose of tourism? Some restaurants in Goa have made a name for themselves as they provide good food, even very good food. They are doing well, they have an envious reputation and even better clientele. Few, however. The government needs to streamline the eating houses in terms of professionalism, healthy raw materials and hygiene. Goans in future need to work harder to regain a losing reputation of a good food culture. Food contests and prizes are necessary so connoisseurs can taste the food and provide educated opinions as they do during the wine festivals. Unless the government provides encouragement and support to all sectors of the food industry, the decline will continue. While it takes a long time to build a reputation of a formidable food culture its destruction can happen in a much shorter time.