http://www.timescrest.com/life/lipsmacking-medley-4065
Lip-smacking medleyNovember 20, 2010
Forget trade, architecture, and education; it is in the confluence of
Pourtuguese and Goan cuisines that the relationship between the coloniser and
the native flourished.
The long association between Portugal and Goa led to a number of exchanges.
"Much of the exchange happened unconsciously.
There was transfer of knowledge from Europe to India and what is neither
acknowledged much, nor researched enough, is the transfer of knowledge from
India to Europe, " says Dr Delio Mendonca, director of the Xavier Centre for
Historical Research. One of these, explains Mendonca, is the introduction in
Goa
of new academic disciplines in sixteenth century Europe - like comparative
linguistics.
Mendonca goes on to say that, "it is difficult to say what Portugal took from
India. There is this perception that European powers came to teach and not to
learn, to give and not to take, but when it came to material things, they came
to take. "
What Portugal took from Goa was material wealth through its trade. Portugal did
not capture Goa for its produce; there just wasn't any spice cultivation in
Goa.
The Europeans saw Goa as a strategically located port from where they could
control the sea route, from the Arabian Gulf to Europe. What Goa gained in the
exchanges can be seen in the field of agriculture. The Portuguese turned out to
be the brokers that brought two tropical countries - Brazil and India - closer.
A free exchange of agricultural products and cultivation techniques between the
two nations brought about a transformation in the biodiversity in both
countries. Tobacco, for instance, was introduced around 1567 in India, and the
locals began smoking the stuff around the year 1605. Potatoes, chillies,
capsicum, tomatoes, cashews, pineapples, guava, papaya - vegetables and fruits
that today's India cannot do without - were imported into India by the
Portuguese. Most of these also went to Portugal and Europe.
If the culinary arts of Goa, and in turn India's, benefited from Portuguese
influence, then Portugal, too, learnt something from its colony. Goan cuisine
is
a truly fascinating blend of Portuguese influence on the territory. The fiery
concoctions that resulted from the meeting of the bland cozinhas of Portugal
and
the peppery rasois of India sizzle even today in Goan pans. For instance, the
Goan fish pickle called para takes its name from the Brazilian city of Para. In
exchange, the Goan balchao and curries went to Brazil, and that country was
then
introduced to the use of coconut in its food. Where Goa lost was in the
dilution
of its Indian culture. It is only since liberation that Indian cultural
influence began to cross the borders, awakening Goa to its lost heritage.
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