Fernando Monte da Silva
Finding a parking spot in St Inez at lunch hour can be
nightmarish if you’re in the vicinity of Caculo Mall. As you drive past the plate-glass
front, you will see the KFC outlet filled to the brim, with queues against the
counter that may take longer to be serviced than the duration of the lunch hour
itself. Of these admiring numbers, a large percentage is made up of a younger
target audience. In earlier times, this demographic would be found around the
area of Miramar, where D’Silva Cutlet Pao still goes strong.
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The question that needs to be asked is whether there is a
‘cool’ factor that needs to be addressed here. Is it more ‘sick’ to be at one
of the myriad chains available today? Jolaine Moses, an 18-year-old member of
gen next from Porvorim, answers in the affirmative. “I prefer bigger brands
because they have a greater variety and a mixture of both local and western
options. Most local restaurants usually have an unhealthy ambience despite
their food being delicious. I feel that they should try and renovate as that
may help them look ‘younger’,” she says.
So where lies the issue? In conversation with popular chef,
Vandana Naik, she shares a few views from the standpoint of an industry
insider. “There is an innate need to take pride in what is indigenously ours.
In the food trade, we need to sell it as a product that is in keeping with the
times. We need to make it cool. At the end of the day, isn’t the cutlet pao a
derivative of sorts of the immensely popular burger? We need to sell the
concept in that manner, and most importantly, whether as producers or
consumers, we need to be proud of it.”
We turn to ever popular D’Silva and question them about the
same. Do they feel threatened in modern times? Is there a slump from the
previous generation to now? The answer is a resounding ‘no’. Nazareth D’Silva,
the proprietor of the establishment, says, “I don’t have a gripe apart from the
awful state of the road that leads to our eatery. It is the only reason our
numbers have reduced as compared to before. Otherwise, I don’t feel the heat of
the competition with big brands because we draw a fair number of clients for
the food that we are famous for.”
18-year-old Pranaya Borkar, a passerby near the Miramar
outfit and a resident of Taleigao, also belonging to the same target age-group,
adds her point of view on the matter, saying, “While I go either way depending
on my fancy, when it comes to chicken, I tilt in the direction of branding
because of the quality involved. I think the branding has a big role to play in
this aspect and our local brands should go the same way to draw a young crowd.”
So whether you’re a fan of the local hero or the ones from
overseas, always remember that the people are what make a place, and the
culture is what makes the people, and food is a part of the culture, and so on
and so forth.
