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**** Goanet Classifieds ****
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Enescil, a Brazilian engineering firm requires Engineers, Architects
and Draftsmen, proficient in AutoCAD, for their new office in Goa
Those interested can email [email protected] by 15 November 2011
Selected candidates will be sent to Brazil for 2 months training
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OHERALDO - Goa
> The new ‘smell’ of success- Goan feni in an odourless avtar
> Panjim: Important Feni makers across Goa are receiving feni these days,
> instead of making and sending them out. This “caju” has got less colour
> and err what the hick.. no smell. Feni without smell!!!!.
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Domnic,
One bright and windy day, way back in 1971, my grand mom informed me that she
was taking me to the Tivim village feast. When we got to the hill top of
Colvale, she pointed out to the tiny spec of the whitewashed Tivim church, some
five kilometers away and said, "Lets start walking."
Those words were one of the most awesome I heard as a pre-teen. I felt as
though an adventure was about to begin!
From the Colvale hilltop I could see a rolling valley of green cashew tree's,
swaying ever so gently in the wind. There was not a single house or dwelling to
be seen. Through the center of this valley ran a narrow, winding dirt path
which was mostly covered in parts with tiny, ball bearing sized red gravel. The
only sign of human habitation was an old abandoned fort towards the east. On
the western horizon there seemed to be one or two tiny dust whirlwinds.
As we began the decent on the windy path to Tivim, I noted that the landscape
was similar to that of the coast in East Africa, where I was born and lived.
Cashew trees thrive on marginal land. The difference between Goa and E. Africa
is that there are red ants on cashew trees in Africa while there
are chipmunks around cashew trees in Goa.
After five minutes of walking down the path, which at places was almost closed
in by vegetation, we came across the first cashew pit. There in front of my
eyes, carved into the hard as iron hill side, was a centuries old pit used for
making feni. There were about have a dozen people at work at the site. Two of
them were stomping, barefoot, on a flat rock platform that held a carpet of
cashews. The cashew carpet seemed to be alive and moving and contained cashews
of every hue of the spectrum from yellow to red. The yellow juice from the
stomping flowed towards one end of the platform where a trough was carved into
the rock to collected the juice.
I inhaled this century old scene in amazement and then asked my grand mom if we
could buy some of the juice. She replied, "I will get you some on our way back."
That evening, on the way back from the Tivim church, after trudging all the way
uphill, in sandals, on a gravel path with tiny stones that seemed to give way
with each step and after experiencing two mini dust whirlwinds, I got back to
the cashew pits. Let me rephrase that, I got back to the cashew pits with the
driest throat ever. My anticipation of a cashew drink turned into
disappointment as we found the pits abandoned. I then noticed that the cashews
that had previously been stomped on, were tied into a great big ball. On top of
this cashew ball was a boulder. The weight of the boulder was forcing the
remaining juice out of the cashews. That juice, Niro, was clear as water and
was trickling off at a pipe at the end of the platform.
On the ledge of the platform was a plastic tumbler. I asked my grand mom if we
could drink some of the juice and leave a payment for the owner. She replied,
"It is ok to drink one glass. That is why they have left the tumbler here."
That one cool glass of Niro was one of the sweetest things I tasted in my life.
It was the perfect blend of yellow and red cashews and had the aroma,
nay, bouquet to prove so.
Every time I have a sip of cashew feni now, my mind races back to 1971 and all
the aroma of that Colvale hilltop.
I am sure that everyone here has a memory associated with his/her first sip of
cashew feni. It is for this reason that I cannot figure out why anyone would
want to remove the cashew aroma from cashew feni. Without that aroma, you could
be drinking a spirit make from rotting potatoes,
fermenting walrus tails, maple syrup or anything else and not know the
difference nor have a memory of your first experience.
In my mind, the essence of cashew feni is the essence of cashews.
Mervyn
BTW, the hills between Colvale and Siolim produce some of the most expensive
cashew feni. Cecil Pinto know why. Personally, I feel that the iron ore in the
rocks there add a distinctive flavour to the brew. Here is the picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45002663@N00/6366326031/in/photostream
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During their studies, the scientists found that the yield of feni varies with
the type of technique employed for distillation and depends on the natural
flora, which spirals its fermentation.
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