------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------- Goan culinary experts to campaign for revival of Goa's inestimable culinary legacy at International Cuisine Conference, Goa - September 2-5, 2007
Over the years, Goa has evolved from a very quiet little state with beautiful virgin beaches to a bustling tourist epicenter. This has enticed loads of business consisting primarily of restaurants, which started serving multi/fusion cuisines. Due to the lack of dedication and passion to maintain accuracy by such restaurants, Goan cuisine had started to lose its originality. With the influx of domestic and foreign tourists Goan Hoteliers initially started as multi-cuisine restaurants, but over the years they realized that the trend of 'Fusion Cuisine' had started infecting the Goan cuisine and that such a decline would be distressingly appalling, therefore we committed all our vigor in reviving our splendid cuisine. The secrets of this cuisine are however, held by the Dear Mothers of Goa. Customarily, all the family recipes and the fine art of cooking them were imparted within the family, in form of direct teaching. Goan entrepreneurs realized that the only way to prepare bona fide Goan food is to learn directly from these gifted mothers. The complexities of preparing Goan food and the usage of traditional methods, which was cooking and serving in earthen-ware, are necessary from the nutritional point of view for some of the special dishes. To breathe life into the passion that was once in the Goan food Goan culinary experts will be presenting special lectures and demonstration on various challenging aspects pertaining to Goan cuisine and the revival of Goa's inestimable legacy at the International Cuisine conference to be organised in September 2007. Chef Fernando Da Costa (Nostalgia, Margao), Culinary experts Rony and Suzette Martins (Mum's Kitchen, Panaji), Dr.Nilesh Korde, Prof.Bhushan Bhave and a few experts will make special presentations on this vital issue. Goa being placed on the coastal belt, the Goans, both - Hindus as well as the Catholics, relishes Rice, Coconut and Fish (and a wide range of sea food as well) as their staple food. It is the base ingredient in the famous Goan curries, be it the plain daily fish-curry or the elaborate special 'Xacuti' (pronounced as - 'Shaa - koo - tee'). Unlike the Hindu Goans, where they will not cook vegetables without adding coconut, if health permits, the Catholics use in moderation. Irrespective of caste and creed, rice was consumed thrice a day. In villages, a farmer's routine would be as: 10 o'clock in the morning he would take Gruel rice or Kanji with fish, vegetables, pickles and chutney (a preparation done out of coconut and coriander). They would also prepare an array of dishes from rice, like: 'Kanji' (Pez), rice-curry referred as- 'Xitt-Coddi', rice with pungent gravy identified in Goa as 'Agsal' and many more. The native Hindu-Goans never added salt when rice was cooked, where as the Catholics always did. Goan Catholics savour meat and consider it as a key ingredient in their meals. Hence, the food prepared in Christian homes is predominantly meat based: beef, pork and chicken. On realizing this; they unanimously decided to give up eating meat for a period of 40 days, which is known as Lent, it is witnessed immediately after the Carnival, falling around end of February, during this period only vegetarian food is cooked and meat is completely avoided. This has been religiously practiced over centuries. Mussles In contrast they have some very mouth watering meat based preparations as well: 'Feijoada', 'Balchao', 'Xacuti', 'Fish - Recheiado', 'Xeqxeq', 'Caldeirada de Peixe', 'Pasteloa' - (mixed pork pie), 'Cabidel', 'Sorpotel', etc. are dished out as an extensive meal by the Goan Christians and many restaurants today. 'Feijoada' is both a Portuguese as well as Brazilian specialty. The Goans add spicy 'Goan-sausages' or salted pork to bring out the zest in 'Feijoada', while the Portuguese add sausages, carrots, couve (type of cabbage) and bean sprouts. In Goa, where very little is grilled, the chicken is fried and condiments are added, like: lime, garlic and Piripiri (small hot chilies locally known as 'Putquepari' or 'Portugali') are added to the meat and seasoned with salt. 'Vindalho' is the modified Portuguese version 'Vinho de Alho' (a bundle of garlic) and 'Sorpotel' is the adaptation of 'Sarrabulho', and 'Cabidel' that of 'Cabidela'. The Goan sausage, 'Chourico' is the prototype of the Portuguese 'Chourico'. While the later is prepared with wine and a few spices, the local is prepared with vinegar and is well spiced. 'Bebinca', the queen of the Goan sweets, despite the fact that its origin is controversial, one would be more safe if one places it as a typical Goan category considering that its chief ingredient is coconut-milk and it is baked layer by layer with coconut husks. 'Apa de Camarao' (prawn pie) another home delicacy is made with local rice, coconut and 'Toddy' (semi-fermented coconut juice), stuffed with prawns in red masala (freshly grounded spices) and baked. Goanet - the largest Goa related mailing list with over 10000 member managed by Eminent Journalist Fredrick Noronha is the Media Sponsor for this International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet to be held from September 2-5,2007 in Hotel Fidalgo (www.hotelfidalgo-goa.com ), Panaji, Goa. Goa's premiere mailing list! Goanet ( www.goanet.org ) is a general forum for people interested in Goa to meet and talk about Goa. Goanet, launched in 1994 by Herman Carneiro, is the first -- and trendsetting -- mailing list dealing with the region of Goa on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent. Members post news articles, opinion, humor (related to Goa), questions, etc., on this list. Chef Extraordinaire, TV show host, author of best selling cookbooks, restaurant consultant and winner of several culinary awards Sanjeev Kapoor will inaugurate the International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet in Goa. Mr. Kapoor will deliver the keynote address at the Conference. Goa based NGO Indology Goa and Pune based NGO OneAsia are the organisers of this conference. The aim of this Conference is to examine the evolution, benefits and state of research on Tradition Asian diet, as well as the potential and problems associated with its survival. The focus of the conference will be on Healthy Traditional Cuisines and their relevance in modern fast pace of life. The aim is also to set this as a platform for a cross-cultural communication. This background brings experts and students of Cuisine and Hospitality Industry together during the four day conference, "United We Eat", a conference on Traditional Asian Diet, A special academic session on Traditional Goan Diet will be held where Culinary Experts of Goa will deliver their presentation on various Nutritional aspects of Goan Food. The Chancellor of Maharaja Sayyajirao University, Baroda, Gujarat Dr.Mrunalini Devi will share the dais as the Guest of Honour with veteran cuisine expert Padmashree Ms.Thangam Philip. Around 25 Cuisine experts including Dr.Neeru Gupta, Dr.Nutan Pandit, Pratibha Jain, Jigyasa Giri, Dr. Siddharth Wakankar, Dr. Alka Pandey, Dr. Sumit Paul, Dr. T. V. Sairam, Chef Fernando Da Costa, Dr.G.B.Sharma, Author and Environmentalist Dr.Nandakumar Kamat, Chef, Culinary experts Rony and Suzie Martins, Food Critic Tara Narayan Patel will be making their presentation on various aspects of Traditional Asian Cuisine during the conference. Goa, the Beach Destination of India is the chosen Venue for this International Conference and is beautifully surrounded by the beaches. Details of the conference are available on the organisations' websites www.goanet.org or www.indologygoa.in for online registration. Participants can also seek more details on the conference from Mr.Bosco D'Mello at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Frederick Noronha at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Dr.Anjali Rao, Chairperson, Indology Goa on [EMAIL PROTECTED] . A special conference fee for Goan born and residents of Goa is Rs.5000 for Industry and Private Sectors, Rs.2000/- for Government/Academics and Rs.1000/- for students. A book Exhibition on Cuisine is also organised during this conference at Hotel Fidalgo where authors and publishers will be displaying their literature where general public will be invited. A special discount of 25 % will be extended to the general public. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr.Anjali Mohan Rao, Chairperson Indology Goa Regd.Address: GIRIVAR, Opp.Dhempe College, Miramar Beach, Post-Caranzalem, City-Panaji, Goa 403002 INDIA Phone: 0091-832-2462195 Cellphone: 0091-9422057786 / 0091-9422062910 website: http://www.indologygoa.in
