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From: [email protected]
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The Aam Aadmi SJ
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Wilson Popenoe
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Spread
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Spain
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Society Of Jesus
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Senior Scientist
The jovial ale-loving Friar Tuck mentioned in the exploits of Robin Hood may be
a legend, but the image of austere padres nurturing a taste for heavenly food
is not very far from the truth. If you thought the good priests of the Society
of Jesus were all about prayers and building churches, you thought wrong. The
same priests who brought the Christian faith to Goan shores also brought the
luscious mango for us to lust over.
Any person lucky enough to be born in Goa will
nostalgically recollect the childhood joy of creeping into the muddeachem kudd
(store room) where mangoes were kept for ripening, the seductive aroma of ripe
mangoes providing much-needed motivation. The act would be repeated in the
company of cousins while the adults of the house slept in the afternoon sweat.
"The mango's centre of origin is in the Indo-Burma region
and from there it spread to different parts, but the secondary introduction was
done by the Portuguese from the Brazil region," senior scientist, fruit science
at Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Adavi Rao Desai, says.
Even as the Jesuits preached poverty and humility on the
streets, they were toiling in the backyard over the mango. Desai explains that
most of the popular varieties, including the Alfonso mango, found in Goa, were
introduced by Jesuit priests who brought with them superior grafting methods
from Europe.
This interesting tidbit of trivia is confirmed by plant
explorer and agronomist Wilson Popenoe in his book 'Manual of Tropical and
Subtropical Fruits'. Popenoe states that the Jesuits at Goa were the first to
apply scientific grafting techniques to the mango. Charles Borges, in his book
'The Economics of the Goa Jesuits, 1542-1759: An Explanation of Their Rise'
states that the Jesuits took to mango grafting around the year 1575.
"Each time a new mango came into being, it was christened
with the name of its grafter," Popenoe writes.
And that is how you have colourful names like Alfonsa,
Barreto, Bastarda, Bispo, Burgo, Chimut, Costa, Dom Bernardo, Dom Fernando, Dom
Filipe, Dom Joao, Dourada, Fernandina, Figueiredo, Hilario, Jeronimo, Jesuita,
Malgessa, Malcorada, Malgoa, Monserrate de Bardez, Monserrate de Salsete,
Oliveira and Xaver, as diligently catalogued by Fernando do Rego, a retired
joint director of the department of agriculture.
Do Rego in his musings points out that there did not seem
to be any particular criteria in naming mango varieties, with surnames of
influential families, landlords, saints and kings being used. Sometimes the
Jesuits also indulged in a little tongue-in-cheek humour using size, flavour
and other qualities to name a few mango varieties.
Take for example, the Bispo or Bisma mango. A variety
found in North Goa, the Bispo mango is large in size and susceptible to rotting
and is poor in quality compared to the Mancurad, Hilario or Alfonso. Legend has
it that the roundish mango was named after a bishop's fat belly.
The popular Alfonso mango has several legends behind it.
Some researchers argue that the prized fruit is named in honour of Alfonso de
Albuquerque, while others believe it is named after its grafter Nicolau Afonso.
Yet another idea is that the Alfonso mango may have been named after Jesuit
saint Alphonso Rodriguez of Spain.
The Jesuit contribution is so valuable that a mango
variety was named after the religious order. A rare variety, the Jesuit mango
is fibrous in nature with a thick skin and a sweet and sour aftertaste.
According to a local legend, the juicy and sweet Xaver
mango found all over Goa is named after St Francis Xavier. Jeronimo, is a mango
christened after an Aldona family.
So while the Jesuits may have left their mark through
Loyola High School and St Britto's High School and the numerous churches of
Goa, they also gave us the delicious mango. The next time you get a mango,
raise it and enjoy its succulent nectar in remembrance of the good padres.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/The-Aam-Aadmi-SJ/articleshow/47054532.cms
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Fr. Cedric Prakash sjDirector
"PRASHANT"
- A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace
Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052, Gujarat,
India
Phone : +91 79 27455913, 66522333
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