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: : Cuisine de Goa : : |
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Goa Cuisine
The long era of the Portuguese rule, combined with that of the Muslim and Hindu kingdoms, has left a permanent influence on the original style of Goan cooking. What we see today is an exotic mix of truly flavorsome and spicy cuisine.
Goan cuisine is a blend of different influences the Goans had to endure during the centuries.
The staple food in Goa is fish, curry and rice, both among the Hindus and the Catholics.
Goan cooking has led to an exotic mix of truly tasty and spicy cuisine. Most people who enjoy this different and unique style of food which has a distinct and unique combination of spicy flavours.
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Goans feel content in not only what they eat, but also in cooking it. The traditional way of cooking in clay pots on firewood continues in most rural areas of Goa. This style of cooking adds an additional smoky flavour to the food, highly valued by Goans.
With a wide variety ranging from prawns to sausages, chicken to beef, and numerous vegetarian dishes, Goan cuisine is able to satisfy even the most finicky gourmet appetites. Goa has some magnificent culinary delicacies like the prawn balchão and sorpotel which have become famous around the world.
Goan food is simple but most, though not all, of it is chili hot, spicy, and pungent. Items made from rice, fish, and coconut abound in nearly every Goan meal.
Fresh seafood dishes are probably the safest and tastiest in most small restaurants that you will visit.
Seafood such as prawns, lobsters, crabs, pomfrets, clams, ladyfish, mussels, and oysters are used to make a variety of curries, fries, soups and pickles. Besides fresh seafood, dried and salted fish dishes are also highly prized by Goans.
Cuisine in Goa is not limited to just the Goan variety. In most places you can find everything from Continental, Chinese, Tibetan, Indonesian, Thai, Portuguese and even Mexican dishes on the menu. Prices for these vary from place to place and so does the quality.
One can also make a few purchase of spice during the tour. After that, experience a typical Goan Hindu Cuisine served in mud pits and banana leaves. Due to those scenic landscape and the tranquil atmosphere, these Plantations are an ideal place for those who want to forget the busy world they have left behind.
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| Rice Dishes: |
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Rice is an important item of Goan diet.
One will find it at every table and almost at every meal. Rice is eaten with delicious fish or meat curry, or in the form of "Pulao", and many other ways. A leavened and steamed bread called "Sana", another a round pastry called "Oddo", the steamed South Indian "Dossa" and "Iddli", a great number of sweet dishes made with rice and jaggery etc. are some of the regional preparations of Goa.
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| Beverages/ Drinks |
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Feni - Goa's "National" Drink
Goa offers two types of feni(fenny), the sap or juice taken from coconut palms and the caju feni taken from the cashew apple. The Cashew is the legacy from Portuguese who introduced it to Goa from Brazil. Cashew Feni is usually drunk after the first distillation, but one can also find it double-distilled, flavoured with Ginger, Cumin or Sasparilla to produce a smooth liqueur.
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| Fruits |
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When it comes to fruits Goa
have the Pineapple, the Melon, the Banana, the Papaya, the Custard Apple etc., but surpassing them all is the MANGO. One can find a huge variety of them but the sweetest, the most luscious and the most ravishing in taste, are the "Alphonso", the "Fernandina" and the "Malcorada", and without exaggeration, the best in the world.
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| Desserts |
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Being the land where coconut is
abundant quite a good number of these sweets contain coconut milk in them. However, the queen of the delicacies is the "Bebinca". It is made of eggs, pure ghee, flour, coconut milk and sugar. Other Goan desserts would include "Doce", "Dodol", "Bolinhas", "Jia de Aronhas" and are available in a number of bakeries and confectionaries.
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