01 Dec 2019  |   04:38am IST

THE BACK IN TOWN BOYS OF BENAULIM AND BETALBATIM

H

ush. We are on a path where this wanderer has travelled for years. More often hitherto, than now. This is a tunnel of calm, a meandering road with palm trees, the clichéd description of Goem, which is increasingly becoming an exception than the norm.

The weight of existence comes down from Cansaulim after the level crossing and the home the erstwhile Doctor CM Luis Proto Barboza. Here the fields have remained fields, the palm trees aren’t cut. On the right the expanse of greenery and farmlands extend to the sea, whose sound is an omnipresent buzz.

These were Goa sounds. These were Goa sights. In the Goa of today, these scenes are like little slivers of sunrise in a gloomy landscape, each sliver worth cocooning.

This wanderer was on the road on another ambling mission, to eke out new stories and meet new folks. Betalbatim and Benaulim have always been very well known villages because of life around its coasts. Its economy and allied businesses run because of families who come and spend half the year here. But unlike Calangute and Baga which have become very cruel parodies of their former selves, buried under the metaphysical debris of filth as much as the real, Benaulim and Betalbatim have fiercely retained their identities, refusing to surrender the identity of their villages to “mega projects” which huge resources which maul intrinsic identities. These villages a have retained their core DNA of village life, whereas Baga, Calangute and some adjoining villages have accepted their plunder.

But there’s more to a village identity than palm trees and sleepy roads. It is when boys and girls who have left home return, to setup businesses and work on the village, it is when they find home once more leaving futures abroad. A village gets its identity from crowded tintos, well run local business including restaurants, well attended football matches and bustling bazaars. Contrast the buzz of Betalbatim and Benaulim with the stillness of Siridao, full of splendid homes which are locked and a village where squares and churches are both empty, their living beings transported to the climes of Swindon in the UK , which is infused with Goan flavours, drawn from here.

So today’s stories are from Betalbatim and Benaulim whose boys have come back to live and work in villages they were raised. From the Betalbatim junction, where the road from Majorda takes a bend towards the Betalbatim Church (past the bakery), and what has become a political landmark, former MLA Mickky Pachechos house and into the village road (without taking the bend on the right which leads to Colva) towards Chaul. Drive for about 200 meters and turn left, which takes you further into the recesses of the village, which has trees and fields and some lovely old homes. Right there, on a sprawling land is the picturesque Cota Cozinha, a restaurant open barely seven months ago by Sharif Cota, who gave up his restaurant cum pub called Two Rivers at the confluence of the Thames and a small village river, near terminal 5 Heathrow, and returned. He used the land in front of his home to build this, egged on by his energetic and lovely wife Queeny Cota. Before we move on, here’s a little snippet on how Sharif was named as such. His father worked on a ship owned by the Shipping Corporation of India named “Sharif”. So when the baby was born papa Cota stepped in and said that the best homage he could pay to his company and the ship he worked on was to name his son after the ship. Sharif Cota was thus christened. Undoubtedly, the spirit of the ship gave him wings to sail.

The family pitched in and the family restaurant Cota Cozinha was created. Built on an elevated deck kind of a setting, it has the feel of an English pub in a rustic Goan countryside. The brief was simple. Cook for others as you would cook at home and enhance it so there’s a feast every day over lunch and dinner.

As we (self and writer and endurance athlete Rahul Chandawarkar, who lives round the corner and dines here often) settled down to a Goan meal, which lived up to what we had expected. The squid is stuffed with goan sausages, much like a Chicken a la Kiev is stuffed with butter. Cut the chunk of squid sideways and gently or else the absolute eruption of the hot choris juice could singe your face and leave your clothes with a mark that you had indeed eaten well.

The fish curry and rice must be had just to get the feel of the thickness of the curry bursting with the flavour of each spice. We then ordered, what yours truly always does as a barometer of good Goan cooking- the kismur. While one can say with absolute certainly (until challenged otherwise) that the prawn kismur at the Mandovi hotel in Panjim remains on top due to its sheer consistency, there are some places which come pretty close. Cota Cozinha, could well be the closest. It’s signature is the size of the prawn bits, a little bigger than the rest with more spices added to make it flavourful. It can actually be mixed with plain rice and a meal made of it with some pickle. Quite clearly more trips have to be made to go through the menu but we save the best for the last. Cota Cozinha has a secret star and her name is Edia. Edia Cotas a culinary legend in these parts. She is Sharif’s mom, and this matriarch has been the pillar of the kitchens of places like the Mahindra Beach resort and the Alila Diva among others. It is her touch which gives the spices the flavor they have. Between Sharif, Queeny and Edias touch, culinary happiness is all signed , sealed and delivered.

Our next stop is on the road to the Benaulim beach, in a little place on the beach road in the long line of shops and restaurants on the busy Benaulim road. Here we meet a England retuned forty something, who lives not just by the sea but literally in it. He knows the sea like his bedroom, every tide, each wave and even the mood of the jelly fish is known to him. Back home after a stint in the west, Tony Fernandes, decided to setup a small place to serve breakfast meant for kings.

Dinhas, has a small open garden type-setting with indoor and and extended seating I front. The outer area is lined with flags of different football clubs of Europe. And when he not swimming or running all the way to Cabo de Rama, he whip up a super English breakfast with ham sausage backon, eggs baked beans, juices and a huge container of freshly brewed coffee. Forget lunch if you have had breakfast at Dinhas.

The stories aren’t over, but space is. As it often happens in Salcette, its home grown characters and their adventures are stuff that keep Goa going. Here’s to all of them.