ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY!!
Goan cuisine is sure to leave your taste buds asking for more and there is definitely a lot to choose from for everyone
The picture- postcard paradise on the west coast of India, Goa is a perfect blend of exotic beaches, lip smacking cuisine and warm good-natured people. And all this can only come from being spoiled by nature’s bounty in this cistern of plenty: rivers and sea teeming with a variety of fish and shellfish; hillside lush with vegetation nourished by rich, red soil; and its planes a patchwork of palm-fringed paddy fields.
Goan cuisine is an art in itself. Its preparation is one of a kind and no where will you find such an array of dishes that suits everyone’s pallet.
Goan cooking is two-fold: the traditional cuisine of the Konkan region i.e. the Saraswat cuisine mainly of the Goan Hindus; and the Portuguese cuisine followed by the Goan Catholics. The Saraswat cuisine consists of a staple diet of rice, fish, vegetable and coconut that finds its way into every dish, sweet or savoury.
The Goan Portuguese cuisine is famous for its sea food which is eaten and relished by people almost religiously. A die hard non-vegetarian will have the time of his life relishing sea food ranging from sardine, Bombay duck, pomfret and mackerel to the majestic kingfish, oysters, prawns, lobsters, squids, crabs and clams of every size and colour.
Along with seafood, meat finds an almost indispensable place in Goan meals. Chicken, beef, lamb and pork are prepared with a concoction of spices that are both traditional and modern. Kashmiri chillies, bimblim, kokum, Goan jaggery and vinegar, teffla and many other spices are blended together to make pastes that go into almost every preparation. Vindalho( pork/chicken curry), Cafreal( spicy grilled/fried chicken), Xacuti(chicken/crab curry with roasted spices), Rissois(lamb/beef mince rissoles), Sorpotel( diced pork and liver in spicy curry), Recheado(fish/meat cooked with red spice paste), Pao com Chourico( Goa sausage rolls) etc are some of the most common yet most relished meals.
States Leo Pereira, manager of The Fisherman’s Wharf, Mobor in South Goa “The food here caters to everyone; whether a Kashmiri, Punjabi, Gujarati or even those from other countries. We come across people from various cultural and culinary backgrounds and no one goes back unhappy. The combination of dried and fresh spices, wines and liqueurs, and unique methods of baking and confectionery makes it a truly gourmet feast.”
For those who aren’t meat eaters, there is a wide variety of vegetarian dishes to choose from that are equally Portuguese and appetizing. Steamed cabbage, brinjals, black-eyed bean curry, drumsticks, pulao, raw mango chutneys and pickles, sweet and plain sannas (steamed rice cakes) and many more delicacies add to the richness of Goan cuisine.
Aadit and Minette Dias jointly run a catering service in Carmona, South Goa. “We get orders from all kinds of people; both vegetarian and non-vegetarian,” says Minette. “It is quite a delight cooking for people of such varied tastes. Each item is thought upon depending on the preferences of the customer. While some preparations are simple, special occasions call for elaborate meals like Galhina Cafreal or even stuffed roast suckling pig.”
People with a sweet tooth can treat themselves to various scrumptious desserts. One of the most popular Goan sweets is Bebinca, which is a layered pudding. Besides this, there is guava cheese, coconut crepes, caramel puddings, toffee, dodol (made from coconut and jaggery), rose cookies (fried waffles), and coconut and jackfruit cake.
Goan cooking, as it has evolved, is fusion cooking in its truest sense: the marrying of diverse flavours, ingredients and culinary techniques, in this case Portuguese and Konkani, to create a unique cuisine that is a satisfaction to every tongue. ▌
