Taste of Goa
Goa cuisine is a combination of different influences i,e Portuguese, hindu , Christian through the centuries, and though the recipes and techniques have changes and evolved over the years, the basic ingredients remains the same. The staple components of typical goan food are the local products rice, fish and coconut and almost every goan meal has a dish comprising them. The people of goa are gourmet seafood eaters and use prawns, lobsters, crabs and jumbo promfrets to make a variety of delicious soups, salads, pickles, curries and fries.
The new food products brought in India changed the life style of the people. This changed the economy and food habits of the people. For instance chillies which are widely used in goa and Indian cuisine were stranger to our continent until the Portuguese introduced them to the Americans. From the roots discovered and used by the Portuguese came a host of plants producing juicy fruits and vegetables never seen or heard before such as potatoes, tomato, pumpkin, aubergine, cashew nut, pimento chilli, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple and guava to enrich the diet.
Regions and customs also forced goan to rename some of their recipes or add different ingredients goans, particularly the hindus did not accept the all the products brought in India. They avoided the great Mediterranean triology of bread, meat and wine for a long time.
Goans prapre different food for different occasions. Food for the gods, rituals, ancestors, and according to the season. Food for daily consumtion consist of rice, curry, fish, vegetables, and pickles depending upon the economic status. Goans are basically non- vegetarian. Fish is the important item of their diet.
Goans are very hospitable and lavishly spend on food during festive occasions birth, thread ceremony, marriages, first holy communion, village fest and anniversaries.
On festive occasions like Ganesh Chaturthi, Guddia Pavda and Diwali, special foods are prepared for the the gods. Atleast before a month of Ganesh Chaturthi all the women starts preparing for different kind of sweets. And for Diwali all the house \wife cooks five types of puffed rice with some other food. These dishes are first offered to god on a banana leaf.The goa foods are rich in spices and other ingredients. Cashew plays an important role in in goan food and are prestnt in almost of all the dishes.
Bebinca, also known as bibik or bebinka, is a type of pudding and a traditional Goan dessert. Traditional Bebinca has 16 layers, but you can make as many as you like. The ingredients include plain flour, sugar, ghee (clarified butter), egg yolk, coconut milk and almond slivers to garnish. The dessert has to be baked in layers and traditionally has 7 layers. The dessert is very common in Goan cuisine. In Portugal and Mozambique, it is also a common dessert in Goanrestaurants. Bebinca is served warm with cold ice cream.It is also easily available to carry and preserve for a long time or eaten fresh.
