THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Reports highlighted the fact a domestic airline would commemorate the carnival by serving Xacuti on board four flights connecting Dabolim. That may be fantastic to promote the carnival around the country but the idea of serving Goan fare on board may be a little off the mark. Today in the state there is a tendency to serve dishes with a Goan touch. Restaurants dot the coastline serving cuisines with a so called Goan touch.
Vasco Alvares chef felt all the food in Goa was influenced by the Portuguese. He said “Look at the Sorpotel, it came via Brazil to Portugal. Each and every colony of Portugal has a version of Sorpotel. We are losing our culinary heritage. A lot of dishes have disappeared dm. I have seen dishes disappear in my professional life. They are no longer being served at weddings”. Another professional from the industry said the problem was tourism with Indians not interested in eating any food apart from their own. Baga , he pointed out was dotted with restaurants serving dosas or Gujarati cuisine. In his estimation there were barely 3 to 4 restaurants in Goa serving authentic Goan food. In Bangkok he pointed out one only Thai food and. Goa , he said had messed up in its eagerness to not let customers go away starting serving them dosas, biryani’s etc. Goans had either changed menus or given their space out to rent. Food, her said was an important part of one’s identity.”
Chef Ryan Semelhago runs a home catering service and was very blunt when he said he had a different view on what constituted Goan food. He said “I am very happy the airline has decided to do what it is doing. We should all welcome the move. All our dishes have evolved. What is Goan cuisine? I will say that anything that is made in Goa from Goan ingredients is Goan cuisine. If new ingredients are available in the local market I believe it can be used in existing recipes and can add something new. We have to be open to this evolution. I am a traditionalist but also a proponent of contemporary Goan culinary. I believe all food is fusion. Food has to be honest and from the heart”.
Elvis Victor of Antogitos food truck , one who has spend considerable time in five star properties bemoaned the fact that vindaloo which usually meant pork was now being made with chicken. He said “We modernised for the tourist which was not right. Today Goan food where ever it is cooked is done by someone from Nepal or from a state in the country. How will you be able to get that fine taste usually capable with a local? That’s how the market has evolved.”
Mayur Dhond felt no one could be stopped from doing what they wanted to do with food. He said the sad truth was that preparing authentic Goan food did not guarantee a profit. He said “It is very difficult to sustain and more importantly I doubt anyone has the taste for it. People don’t have the knowledge about the food. Here I am talking about the spenders. To survive in this market you have to be multi cuisine. Authentic Goan will not survive in this market. That is the reality of the market.”
Michael Mascarenhas said he was making an attempt to promote genuine Goan food. He said “At Rapon, we cook over fire in earthen pots and we cook vegetables, fish over fire. We serve soul curry and others authentic Goan delicacies with wine. This is my attempt as part of the Goan Culinary Club. You have to understand we are largely catering to a domestic audience who want what they are comfortable with. Five star properties are doing their bit to promote Goan cuisine but the overall market is cacatering to the domestic market”.
Griselda Costa who curates dining experiences said many of the tourists were not aware of the places where genuine Goan food was available. Restaurants were generally catering to the tourists and it was important to know locals who could provide details of the places they visited. Goan food she said took time to cook and it also took time to mature as was the case with sarpotel. There was she said a niche audience who wanted authentic food and that was about filtering out who wanted it. Otherwise it was general fare which was palatable to everyone’s taste buds. For the sake of Goan cuisine, authentic Goan fare finds its niche.
