goan food, article Options

[gingerly]

interesting article from the jai malhar's link on goan musicians-http://www.india-seminar.com/2004/543/543%...a%20gracias.htm

[dabbler]

Thank you for that link G. (See, you do a good deed and two years later
some weary food traveler reaps the benefit.)

At the Hilo, Hawaii, farmers market on Saturday I ran across something called
bibingca. It's resemblance to bibinca/bebinca, the Goan confection I love,
was slight (the bibingca was ricey and wrapped in banana leaves), but the name
intrigued me. G's link suggests that Goan bibinca is derived from bibingca.

Does anybody with connections to the far east and to Goa (yes, Hibiscus, this
means you) know more about the descent of this dish? Bibinca has received
far too little attention on AS

[seeker]

of interest?
Cook's Cottage

[dabbler]

of interest?
Cook's Cottage

Yes, of interest. (It was also linked to in one of polarmate's posts.) But, it confirmed
my conviction that this is one of those recipes that I shall encourage others to try
(and invite me to partake of the results), but never make myself. From that picnic
episode you seem like the perfect type I subcontinental (unlike your chocolate
cake type II friend): warm, nurturing, generous and kind. If you can find it
in your heart to make it this fall and bring it to Madison Square Park, I'll forgo
my frozen custard at Shake Shack and try your bebinca.

[seeker]

of interest?
Cook's Cottage

Yes, of interest. (It was also linked to in one of polarmate's posts.) But, it confirmed
my conviction that this is one of those recipes that I shall encourage others to try
(and invite me to partake of the results), but never make myself. From that picnic
episode you seem like the perfect type I subcontinental (unlike your chocolate
cake type II friend): warm, nurturing, generous and kind. If you can find it
in your heart to make it this fall and bring it to Madison Square Park, I'll forgo
my frozen custard at Shake Shack and try your bebinca.

Alas, Dabbler, as wonderful as I am, I draw the line at swirling cake batter over the stove for two hours. Maybe Shake Shack will have some new exciting flavours.

[hibiscus]

And the two-hour business is a shortened version. Traditionally, bebinca is supposed to be baked in the ground with hot coals covering the lid, though above-ground ovens are probably more used now. Still seems to be an outdoor activity, though. For those really craving it, Costa's makes packaged bebinca and dodol - both good!

A relative of bebinca in south-east Asia is kueh lapis (literally, layered cake) - more cakey and not puddingy like the Goan-Portuguese bebinca.

The name bibingca certainly sounds promising - did the cake itself have any layers? I love these food connections (Singaporean murtabak = sub-continental baida roti, for example).

[gingerly]

if it's bibingka you're wanting..

there have been a few discussions on message boards as to the origins of bibingka, along with my own musings on foreign influence in baked goods in the philippines, so i won't get too much into it. however, it is clearly a product of the many cultures that have passed through the country--the portuguese have a similar delicacy called bebinca, which is also found in indian region of goa and in the island of timor; the clay ovens were brought to the philippines centuries before by the chinese.

it is one of the very few recipes that i think does not travel well. you can make various substitutions to the main components to some degree of success, but without the banana leaf and clay oven, the elusive alchemy is unachieved, and you are left with a pale imitation of the real thing. once you are lucky enough to taste the springy, mildly sweet cake, with its leafy fragrance, and eggy richness complemented by the crumbly, salty egg, sweet, warm cheese, and fresh, milky coconut all imitations fail. bibingka is not a native specialty to pampanga, but its true self can only be found in the philippines. seek it out if you find yourself here.

[hibiscus]

Getting rough. Who'da thunk.

Tropical Storm Bebinca formed as a tropical depression (area of low air pressure) early in the morning on October 1, 2006, east of the Philippines. Over the course of the next day, the depression gradually moved north and east away from the island chain and gained enough power to become a storm and earn a name.

[Veena]

We are in Goa for a few days. Bread in Bangalore is horrid and I had been craving some good pao. The first thing I ate was the delectable Goan pao, and kaakaNa. KaakaNa in Konkani literally means bangles. This is a superb crusty bread, best eaten dipped in hothot cha. These were still crackling when they were brought in from the bakery, the sound as melodious as the tinkling of glass bangles. With the rains drumming outside, life cannot get any better.

Goa has the best bread in the country; Bombay's pao (both soft and the buroon) is excellent too, but Goa has more variety and some of the crusty bread made here rivals anything found in a European bakery.

Goan Pao


KaakaNa


Veena

[hibiscus]

Yum!

[Matilda]

Thanks Veena, you sure know the right photos to post that will hit the spot!

[Veena]

This is another wild green that grows like wild fire in Goa in the monsoons. They are called tera.n (rhymes with sera, but with a nasal ending). They have green stems and differ from the purple-stemmed colocasia leaves that are used for making patrode (patra in Gujarathi). They can create severe itchiness in the throat if not processed properly. The Goan solution is to soak them with kokum for a long time before cooking.



When he saw my avid interest, our driver offered to bring over the cooked dish made by his mother. It was fantastic, although it does not have much to recommend by way of appearance. Cooked with jackfruit seeds and dried white chana. He has promised to bring the recipe tomorrow.



Veena

[Wildflower]

Veena,

I'm really enjoying your vegetable reports.

Those look and sound very much like Colocasia -- of which there are many subspecies and varietals, some with dark stems, some with green stems.

Would you ask this wonderful driver if they also harvest the roots, and if so what they call them? What is the local name for the dark (maroon?) stemmed colocasia?

[arnab]

those leaves look exactly like those on house plants i've had in the past!

[hibiscus]

It is colocasia, I think. My mom called the dark-stemmed ones ALU or ALvA pAn (pAn = leaf). The green stemmed ones are taero (singular, used as collective noun) in Amchi Konkani too.

Great photos, Veena.

[shanta]

colocasia discussion continues here.

[Matilda]

It is colocasia, I think. My mom called the dark-stemmed ones ALU or ALvA pAn (pAn = leaf). The green stemmed ones are taero (singular, used as collective noun) in Amchi Konkani too.

Great photos, Veena.

I know of ALvA pAn.
But never heard of 'taero' though but it does sound like 'taro' doesn't it...which I have learnt is the root of these plants!

[gingerly]

When he saw my avid interest, our driver offered to bring over the cooked dish made by his mother. It was fantastic, although it does not have much to recommend by way of appearance. Cooked with jackfruit seeds and dried white chana. He has promised to bring the recipe tomorrow.

Veena, did you get this recipe? i have a bunch of chinese taro that seems ideal for it.

[Veena]

Unfortunately, no. He has promised to bring her over the next time I am on a week-long visit.

Veena

[Veena]

In Goa for the weekend. The monsoon is raging in all its glory here. This is the season when gaanvThi (deshi, homegrown) vegetables are sold in the markets by a few vendors coming in from the villages. One has to go in the mornings to obtain this bounty; since they are homegrown, supply is limited and they are sold out by noon. They are far tastier than any commercially grown vegetables. Today I got plantains, okra, suraN, and breadfruit. The okra photo is in its own thread; here are the plantains.



Veena

[loislane]

When you say Goa, do you mean in Panajim or somewhere in the countryside? I went to Goa so many years ago, I don't even remember how much difference there is between the two, hence the question.

[Veena]

LL, I bought those vegetables in Panjim, which is where we live in Goa. However, they are available all over Goa.

There is distinct difference between Panjim and its surrounds, and the countryside in interior Goa. You must visit the latter before that is also destroyed..oops, I mean, developed.

Veena

[Veena]

Now that mango season is only a memory, I am relishing this Goan mango specialty - halwa made from musharad mango. My husband's aunt makes it every year and gives us a big batch. It's eaten with chapatis and a little goes a long way. It differs from other familiar halwas in that no rava (semolina) or ghee is used. Just mango, sugar, and saffron (there might be small amounts of cardamom but I need to verify) cooked for several hours.



Veena

[loislane]

Looks so good ... the ingredients and process sound closer to a jam. Does it last for a fairly long time like jam?

[Veena]

You could call it a jam I suppose, but it is more concentrated, drier, and thicker than regular jams. I think it is also cooked much longer than jam. It lasts for over a year in the refrigerator.

Veena

[Matilda]

Veena, I think that mango halwa is what amchis call 'morambo'.
Is the mango semi ripe when used?

[Veena]

Egg Xacuti made by Smt. Naik, our driver's mother in Goa. He also referred to it as "egg mutton". I lugged it all the way back to Bangalore along with some ooNey (Goan crusty rolls). Well worth all the trouble!



Gingerly, I got the recipe for colocasia leaves from her, but it was given in the usual Indian style. I can post it here as is or a more precise version after making it myself (but I don't know how soon I will be able to do it). Are the leaves still available over there?

Veena

This post has been edited by Veena: Sep 22 2007, 08:50 PM

[Wildflower]

Egg Xacuti made by Smt. Naik, our driver's mother in Goa. He also referred to it as "egg mutton". I lugged it all the way back to Bangalore along with some ooNey (Goan crusty rolls). Well worth all the trouble!

Gingerly, I got the recipe for colocasia leaves from her, but it was given in the usual Indian style. I can post it here as is or a more precise version after making it myself (but I don't know how soon I will be able to do it). Are the leaves still available over there?

Veena, may I petition for the recipe for this worth lugging to B'lore Egg Xacuti too?

[gingerly]

i haven’t seen them in the past couple of weeks, but regular taro is always around. i ended up cooking those to a nepali recipe( from the indra majupuria* book) and adding chickpeas for good measure. turned out delicious, but the leaves were kind of characterless and not tart at all.
please post when you're done reworking the recipe.


*' joys of nepalese cooking'- great book and very good with providing botanical names of various greens and vegetables used.

[Veena]

Veena, may I petition for the recipe for this worth lugging to B'lore Egg Xacuti too?

Sure. I asked her and this is what I got:

Fry onions.
Fry coconut separately.
Add garam masala.
Add tomatoes or tamarind or kokum.
Break eggs in the gravy.

I plan to fill in the blanks on my next visit, by watching her make it.

Veena

This post has been edited by Veena: Sep 24 2007, 10:55 PM