The world is shrinking by the day. Not in size, but in thedegree of separation of its inhabitants, and they say it has decreased from sixto five. It is truly amazing how people can be separated by continents yet beconnected, sometimes without any knowledge of the fact, in so many ways. Irecently met a pilot, introduced to me by a fellow chef from Mozambique, who,in the course of our conversation turned out to probably be related to me insome complicated way. He is related to family I recently had the pleasure ofmeeting when I visited Mozambique some years ago, while on a culinary journeythrough Africa. Over the past few years I have embarked on a quest to get intouch with my roots in all ways, and I have gotten reasonably close to peoplerelated to me. Finally, this year, I got a chance to experience some culinaryculture from the motherland, and to me quite literally my great grandmotherland. Having ancestry in Mozambique, I was instantly drawn to familiarisemyself with this cuisine relatively unknown to us in Goa.
On my trip to Africa I had the opportunity to sample verylittle as time was not on my side. The only thing I took away from that tripwas the Galinha Zambeziana, a dish I introduced on my menu, and that till dateis an absolute hit. My more recent encounter with Carlos Graca, a celebratedchef and brilliant cook, acquainted me with some really authentic Bantucuisine, made from ingredients he carried with him all the way to Macau. Ouringredient baskets looked freakishly similar in almost every way and some ofthe dishes proposed also sounded akin to what comes out of our kitchens. Hismenu included Feijoada, Guisado, Carril de Camarao and Badjias and Rissois, allonly slightly different from our versions. The integration of the population ofthe Portuguese colonies saw a lot of Goans being posted in Mozambique, takingalong with them their food culture. The Bantu or the Zambezi food is a littledifferent, with less spice and more bland in nature. African cooking was onlydone by the stewing method until the Portuguese introduced marinating androasting. Cassava, a root vegetable that is highly drought resistant growsabundantly in Africa and is the staple of most African countries. Matapa, adish made from the paste of cassava leaves and cashew nuts was one of myfavourite dishes. Much like Goa, Mozambique was introduced to many alieningredients, brought in by the age of discovery. This includes Cashew, of whichthey make a wine and export their prized nut largely and very surprisingly toIndia which is the second largest producer of cashew in the world. The mostfamous export from there is the Galinha Piri Piri, made famous by Nandos, takenall over the world.
Although in Goa, by and large, no one knows much about foodfrom the African continent, it was amazing to see how well received Goan foodis among the Mozambican community. I’m proud and privileged to have to haveexperienced both worlds and also be connected to them.
