PANJIM: Imagine a birthday cake with a message to save the environment. That is exactly the kind of cake that was recently cut, as prodded by the ‘Save Mollem’ initiative, people have baked for Mollem as a form of solidarity with the movement.
The group ‘Save Mollem’ that has thousands of followers across its social media platforms recently launched the online campaign ‘Bake for Mollem’.
They drew inspiration from the show of solidarity by two Goan pastry chefs – Lerrick and Lineker Coelho – who made a cake that depicted their concern against deforestation in Goa, during the first round of the UK TV show ‘Bake Off: The Professionals’. Herald had featured the two brothers and their achievement last month.
Save Mollem invited people to send in ideas, wherein they too could bake items that had nature in their ingredients and design.
A fortnight later, Save Mollem received a large number of beautiful creations, pictures of which they shared on Facebook and Instagram, which were later circulated amongst Goans, the Goan diaspora and environmentalists.
“Food is an expression just like any art form, and these delicious desserts and savouries with their compelling concepts make a powerful statement against the deforestation threat to our homeland,” said Save Mollem in one of their posts regarding the viral campaign.
They added, “Food can tell the stories of our land and its people – and you’ve shown us just that ,” elated to receive recipes, family stories and all the yummy bakes created for the forests with a focus on local ingredients, biodiversity and cultural traditions.
Speaking about their creations, many explained their unique take in their posts.
For instance, Gilbert Soyus who goes by the Instagram handle @soyus1297 said his creation, ‘the magical forest floor’, is a dish that was inspired by each and every wild excursion he has taken.
“If exploring the wild has taught me one thing, it’s that magic exists everywhere. You just have to look and appreciate it. Amche Mollem and all our forests are so rich in biodiversity, yet we tend to overlook a lot of these species and in doing so, we fail to notice the magic they possess. Amche Mollem, all our forests and all our fellow species deserve to be protected. They deserve to be protected from all the threats they face,” Gilbert added.
Premila Dias Fernandes who goes by the handle @premiladias shared a picture of a Kaanda/Goenchem Blackberry Tart, which she said was made by Premika.
“Throughout Goa in summer months ‘Kaanda’ berries grow wild on thorny shrubs, nowadays they are becoming rare as land is cleared to make place for all sorts of development,” she added.
“This also gave us the opportunity to try something for the first time. As in what we came up with and the experience of creating this was also special,” said another participant.
Some of the people who participated said it was quite exciting as they got to combine two things they are passionate about, their love for baking and their deep concern for Goa’s environment. This was a way for them to show how they feel on the issue using their baking skills. Besides this, there was a lot of interest generated at their respective homes and amongst their family and friend circle, who enjoyed the yummy cakes and other delicious baked creations.
