In our surge to make Goa a truly international dining and cuisine destination, we can’t leave the cusine of our own kitchens away from the palate. So let’s have some space for the Cabidela and bebinca, with our Greek, Mexican and European fare
Goa as an eating destination is currently a mix of evolutionof things other than our local fare, and an indication of where we may be foundwanting, but the future could certainly be brighter
Goa is one of the most famous holiday destinations in theworld, and the sheer number of visitors it has every year is testament to itspopularity. Goa is famous for its unique culture, its once pristine beaches, arich history, the music and parties, and freely available and comparativelycheaper alcohol.
The warm and hospitable attitude of our populace is alsowhat used to make our tiny state so likeable, something that has been changingover the years. The focus of my article however, lies with my association withfood, which is an important aspect of tourism and how tourists perceive aplace.
After doing so many things wrong, the tourism gods stillhave mercy on us and send us wave after wave of mostly first time tourists, anda host of regulars who come here just for the love of the land. I havetravelled a fair bit, and Goa is light years behind in every way of everywhereI have been; be it infrastructure, maintenance of heritage, natural beauty andvalue for money.
The most beautiful cities or places I have visited are theones with a cultural mix as a result of some colonisation or occupation thattook place sometime in history. Almost all of them had a painful past, but justlike us were left with a rich heritage and culture and totally unique way oflife; the difference being that they use this uniqueness to their advantage andas a selling tool.
New Orleans, Mozambique, Angola, Curacao, Martinique, manyof the Caribbean islands and closer to home: Pondicherry, all have a totallyunique culture and way of life due to the influences of the Spanish, Dutch,British, French and Portuguese. In Goa somehow we have failed to realise thatthis uniqueness is what draws people here and brings them back year after year.The majority of our people fail to realise the importance of protecting ouridentity and for this reason it is soon going to disappear much like ourcuisine.
The past decade has ushered in a new era in Goan tourism,with the decline in the quality of the foreign tourist and an exponentialincrease in quality local tourists. The positives are that our Desi travelersspend much more than the cheaper charter tourist, the negative is that theydon’t want to leave home, they want to be at home everywhere they go. When Ivisit a new place or even a place I have been before I want the localexperience, and I want to see and do things unique to that place. As a chef andfoodie, sampling the local cuisine is on the top of my agenda. Each place thatI have been to tries their best to showcase their local cuisine, right fromsmall roadside eateries to average restaurants and even fancy fine dining experiences.
It’s natural for people to get homesick and long for theirown food, especially on long trips and in countries where the food is as alienas the people, but what we do in Goa is sell out our own cuisine for the sakeof satisfying anyone who is willing to pay. The problem with Indian tourists isthat due to their various religious and cultural obligations, they are verynarrow minded when it comes to what and where they eat, and very rarely want toeat anything besides their own cuisine, and Goans, being flexible andaccommodating, are willing to oblige any request, something that is good andbad. At the end of the day it is business and a businessman does everything tosatisfy his customers, and that is another reason why people find it so easy tocome to here and feel completely at home. The bad part is that we areneglecting our own cuisine and relegating it to the back of the menu. We takeoff items that we feel might not go too well with some people, we adjust theflavours and adapt the cuisine too much to the visitor’s tastes thus losing theauthenticity and essence of what is Goan Cuisine. And it is not just our cuisine we are sellingout but our land, our identity and our very souls. Friends often ask me torecommend good Goan restaurants serving authentic Goan food, and I can count onmy fingers the number of restaurants I can actually recommend. Considering thethousands of restaurants we have in operation, the figures are dismal to saythe least. The south of Goa has always been our saving grace, and if we stillhave some semblance of Goanness, it is thanks to the Xaxticars. Almost all thegood Goan restaurants are in the south. The small taverns and bars andrestaurants still holding true there vastly outnumber those in the north. The southfor some reason has remained unspoiled, maybe due to the kind of people that gothere or maybe it’s the kind of people that live there.
What saddens me the most is the fact that so many dishes areslipping in to oblivion and the newer generations only hear stories from theirgrandparents about the different things they used to eat in their day, whichwill never be seen again. Desserts like Sans rival can only be seen forweddings, Bebinca is only seen during Christmas or in the bags of expatriateGoans going back from their holiday and dishes like Cabidela and Arroz de Patoare nothing but folklore. Saraswat cuisine is something that is still fairlyunchartered territory to most, owing to the lack of exposure and the absence ofgood restaurants that represent it. South Indian food is the most popularvegetarian food and the bhaji puri and the rice plate ‘joints’ are the onlyrepresentatives of saraswat cuisine.
I know that cuisine all over the world have to evolve andmature and change and it always a good thing when innovation takes placebecause it keeps thing fresh and new. With the talent we have in Goa and thenumber of really good chefs, we should have had modern Goan food done with somekind of twist. I personally try to do my bit, and I admit it is not enough, tokeep goan food alive in some way. At my restaurants I have served things liketambdi bahji lasagna, sausage and cheese lasagna, dates stuffed with sausage,hummus with Goan sausage, caramelized prawns and onions in papad cones andother such fusion dishes. The only way to keep our cuisine alive is to makepeople enjoy what they are eating and at the same time make them feel like theyeating something new.
Food is the one thing that people will never tire of and thethirst and curiosity of humans will never be quenched. People will always wantto eat something different from what they eat every day and with the worldchanging and people having less time to cook at home eating out is soonbecoming a necessity for most. I see Goa as the future food hub of the countryand the only hindrance is the size of our population that makes sustenancedifficult and the seasonal nature of our tourist market only compounds thisproblem. Most restaurants first target the foreigners, then the Indian tourist andlast the locals when it should be the other way round because it’s the localsthat will bring in business in the absence of tourists. We need to promote ourlocal cuisine more and that’s the only way to showcase our culture and heritagein its entirety. Nowhere in the world is less attention paid to the localcuisine than in Goa.
On the flip side, Goa is an amazing food destination and wehave a great selection of restaurants serving fine global cuisine and a fewspecialty restaurants serving very authentic cuisine like Thai, French,Burmese, Italian, Greek, German and even Mexican. Restaurateurs and chefs fromacross the globe have descended here to set up shop and share their fare. The upside of this globalisation is that itgives us the local, and visitors alike, variety and alternate options to breakthe monotony of the staple. Apart from restaurants, there are cheeses,charcuterie and bakery products being produced right here by really passionatechefs who have decided to make base here, giving us access to delicious freshgourmet cheeses, world class hams and bacon and other cold-cuts, and the mostamazing croissants outside of Paris.
We are truly an international food destination and everyoneand any one that comes here will be satisfied with the food on offer. I love the fact that people go back fromtheir holiday completely satisfied and not feeling like they have been awayfrom home, because when they got homesick there was always something theywanted, available.
With all its flaws and draw back Goa is still the place Ilove and would never trade for anything. We are headed down the wrong road atthe moment but hopefully better sense will prevail and we will realise thatsooner than later. Goa is still a great entertainment focal point and it couldbe a great food destination as well, with a blend of international, Indian andour own cuisine. Goan food is still not as known as North Indian food is and itis our duty to make it known to the world. Every festival I have been arepresentative at, I have given a little more exposure to our cuisine andeveryone who has ever eaten it has loved it and lapped it up.
Vasco Alvares, also known as Vasquito, is a chef andrestaurateur. Having worked in 5 star hotels and cruise liners his repertoireis vast and varied. Specialising in barbecue and grill, he also is familiarwith Italian, Mexican, Jamaican, Spanish, Portuguese and his very own belovedGoan cuisine. He is an ambassador of preserving Goan cuisine and has doneseveral promotions in South Africa, Macau and various places in India
