PANJIM: Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro, the little Goan-Portuguese cafe/bakery is every Panjimite’s favourite haunt, when they are shopping for sweet festive delicacies. In the days gone by and even today, it’s the favourite stop-over in Panjim’s Latin Quarter during Holy Week, Easter and Christmas, for its traditional fare.
Their hot cross buns which are much sought after on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, are brimming with religious tradition. Families, especially senior citizens take these plump hot cross buns home to gift them to their grandchildren during the Holy Triduum to create awareness about Jesus’ suffering and his death on the Cross: a tradition kept alive across generations of Goan families.
“The buns are marked with a Cross as a remembrance of Jesus’ passion and love for us. The buns are spiced with cinnamon and raisins (black currant). This is because Jesus was embalmed and laid in the tomb,” says Gletta Mascarenhas, who now runs Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro.
“The buns, which have been made in our wood fired oven for the last 60 years, were picked up this year by Our Lady of Rosary Church, Caranzalem, Immaculate Conception Church, Panjim, Holy Cross Church, Bambolim, and even people from as far as Bicholim and many other places travel to Panjim for them. We also take smaller orders from our neighbours (in Fontainhas and San Tome), as well as people from St Cruz, Betim, Bhatulem,” says Mascarenhas.
Explaining the unique process adopted in this iconic bakery, Mascarenhas says, “We have an old family recipe book, handed down through generations, that safely houses the recipes for these buns, and the other delicacies we offer. Our buns are hand-made and we churn out about 1,500 to 2,000 buns per day. No preservatives are used, we prepare fresh snacks every day.”
Mascarenhas adds, “For Easter, we have Easter cakes with birds or anything which depicts new life, fancy Easter eggs with cartoon characters made for kids and other delicacies such as cinnamon cakes, carrot cakes, date and walnut cakes, plum cakes, raisin cakes.”
During Christmas time, the Confeitaria is buzzing with all traditional Goan-Portuguese Christmas sweets, as well as hampers for companies with cake and a wine bottle, customized to their budgets.
The family-run bakery was started on January 31, 1930, by Andre Mascarenhas, father-in-law of Gletta Mascarenhas. The bakery, which only used to bake bread back then is 94 years old today, and functioning from the same spot, just off 31st January Road, in Fontainhas, Panjim.
With a degree in hotel management and an internship with the Taj group, Gletta Mascarenhas had many opportunities including to go abroad. But after she married a football player who did not like to stick to one place, she took over Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro. “I was reluctant to take it over since it was an old brand and I was wondering whether I would be able to retain the old customers. But, I still see these people coming again and again over the past 27 years, since I took over in 1997. I’m sure they like what we serve and therefore I’m happy. Parents of surrounding schools also pick up lots of snacks for their children from us,” says Mascarenhas.
Today, Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro is buzzing on social media, and tourists are flocking to the quaint little spot, after hunting for it on Google maps. The experiential tourists just love the simple ambience, the smell of freshly baked pastries, scrumptious snacks, cakes, bebinca, pasteis de Nata, Doce de Grao, Bolo sans rival, desserts and affordable juices, shakes and smoothies. As Gletta continues to uphold Goan-Portuguese culinary traditions, the bakery remains a symbol of the enduring legacy of family, hard work, and community in Panjim’s bustling streets.