I just returned from the recently concluded Lusofoniafestival held in Macau, and besides being a culinary journey, it was a feast ofmusic, art and culture and more importantly a confluence of various ethnicitiesand civilizations. I had the pleasure of meeting wonderful people of differentethnicities and nations all bound by a common language and a common influence.What is also wonderful to see is that the other nations unlike ours have longforgotten the bitterness and the violent histories and embraced the uniqueidentities and heritage they were left with. I spent a week with four great chefsfrom Portugal, Mozambique, Guinea Bissao and Cabo verde, sharing recipes,sampling new cuisines and just getting to know them as people. It turns outthat in my last visit to Mozambique, I ate at the restaurant run by the motherof the Mozambican chef, and he knows my family there. Every chef had carriedwith him ingredients that were unique to his cuisine and that would not beavailable there, and the leftovers were distributed among the other chefs eagerto try out foreign cuisine.
It was amazing to see how much all the cuisines had incommon, sometimes just in the name, but most of the time it was the influence,not just of the Portuguese but of each of the nations, and how it affectedtheir eating habits and culture. All had a Feijoada, done just a littledifferent from the other, yet similar in every way. Caldeirada was anothercommon dish, again differing just by virtue of the difference in ingredientsand the flavour. Guinea Bissao had a cafreal similar to ours only in origin,but miles apart in flavour. The three African cuisines had more in common witheach other and their food consists of hearty stews filled with different kindsof beans, root vegetables and chunky pieces of meat, simmered for hours. Foodfrom Mozambique and Goa has more in common with each other than with the othernations, both using a lot of coconut and chilly and they even have bhojeiswhich basically are bhajjis. Portugal had its signature dishes, Cozida aPortuguesa, Bacalhao assado, Polvo en alho and Arroz de mariscos.
Outside the festival, during my free time I wasted no time,and tried out everything possible, and whenever my host Pankaj was around, itwas a little easier to get what I wanted without having to show and try totell. I have new found admiration for the Chinese and their fresh and healthyfood habits. There are a few things that I do not agree with but on the whole Iloved everything I tried. Crispy skin pork belly, honey glazed pork neck,roasted duck, poached chicken in master stock, aged eggs, sautéed morningglory, crispy chicken feet and all kinds of steamed buns. On my last day Ivisited an old restaurant owned by a Portuguese speaking Chinese man servingboth Chinese and Portuguese food. A place where all the old timers hung out, aplace where everyone knew each other a place that reminded of home. It was thetype of place that I expected to see much more of, a place for good food, goodfriends and memories of better times.
