Little pleasures on a string

Photo Credits: OPED - second

Take a Goan out of Goa but you cannot take his Goan food habits out of him is an old saying. This still holds good as I write about the Goan cuisine that migrant Goans miss while away from their homeland. It’s a story not just for migrants like me here in Australia but I am sure it’s for most Goans settled around the globe. Goa’s feisty sausages, or choriso as they are called, are an amped-up version of the Portuguese choricao, which have a sweeter, less spicy flavour. Strings of smaller, circular choriz are called rosary sausages. They look like large necklaces, like super-sized, an ominous red in the bright Goa sunshine.

I will not deny that Goan fish curry rice is the best but I am sure no one will deny the fact that Goan pork sausages are the next best thing and therefore considered high on my list of perfect comfort foods. I, for one must confess that I have lived over three decades without red meat and loves to feast on fish curry and rice, but what makes me write about something that I don’t eat is that Goan Pork Sausages are unique to Goa and everyone’s favourite even if they are out far away from their mother land.

Some of the notable people who cater to Goan Pork Sausages here in Australia are, Dorelli Goan Portuguese sausages packed by Ellis Fernandes from Chandor now based in Melbourne for the last 15 years, Pinto’s Goan sausages packed by Mervyn Pinto originally hailing from Parra and then there is Jennifer Fernandes and her husband have been trying for the last four years to perfect the art of making sausages and have been catering to the Goan community in Brisbane.

I did an experiment around five years ago when Goans here in Adelaide organised the 1st World Goa Day. Aware of the susegad attitude that we Goans enjoy, the ideal way to draw Goans and other Australian friends was to serve a Goan themed meal and as expected no one left disappointed. This exercise paid off very well, the chefs were happy with the compliments they received and so were the guests who enjoyed Goan food, especially the Aussies who had something different to experience. Goan food sauces don't always come in a jar and hence it’s not often served due to the lengthy time consuming preparation.

However, attending any event hosted by a Goan, you can be rest assured that you will enjoy atleast one Goan dish during the meal. My first taste of Goan food after I landed on the shores of Australia was an authentic Goan prawn curry with lady fingers prepared by new friends in Adelaide, the late Sera and her husband Blaise Fernandes who hail from Merces. My family was invited to dinner by our generous host and I can definitely say it was a treat away from home. Over the past few years having lived here I have observed Goans cooking some really tasty Goan food. Some Goans who moved here from the African continent display different taste buds while others who moved from the Middle East experiment in their own way. But my better half will still make that phone call to her mother to get the traditional Goan recipes.

For the past couple years Karma Foods that operates from my home town in Vasco da Gama has been contributed to making the preparation of Goan dishes much simple with their ready-made masalas. Today preparing dishes including Pork Vindaloo, Chicken Cafreal, Chicken Xacuti, Sorpotel, Pork Roast or Tongue Roast are much easy and less labourous. Karma foods products are available in most Indian grocery stores and sell quickly due to their popularity.

Due to the strict restrictions with Australian border control, Goan Pork Sausages cannot be brought into the country. Hence we depend on local entrepreneurs to satiate our need for Goan sausages. I understand there is atleast one Goan making these sausages with locally sourced ingredients. Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane resident Goans can avail of this luxury even though it comes at a cost.

Sausages are now mainstream and accordingly often subjected to mass-production methods. Many commercially-available sausages are filled with an assortment of preservatives, fillers and meat from confinement-reared animals. Australia has its own variety of sausages that are popular and freely available everywhere. Family BBQs which are very popular among the local residents keep this business booming. Throw in the Goan or German sausages, add the Spanish chorizo or the Slovenian Kransky and we are spoilt for choice.

Of course there are a few families here who still go through the laborious process of preparing Goan pork sausages right in their Adelaide homes. Registered nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Ana Lobo says that she prepares the Goan pork sausages once every year and serves them only on special occasions whenever her Goan guests come a-visiting. Nelson Pereira is another Goan who, despite his globe-trotting work schedule, still manages to prepare Goan sausages at home. Nelson moved to Adelaide a couple of decades ago from Africa but has continued to prepare sorpotel and Goan pork sausages at family events.

As my better half would say, there is still hope for sausages lovers. If you put in the hard yards you can make them yourself. If I can have my wish she has promised to prepare preservative-free Goan pork.

- Frankey Fernandes is a former television journalist from Goa who has now made Australia his home