Is Goa’s culinary heritage disappearing?

As Goa stakes claim to being India’s culinary capital, the state’s local cuisine seems to have disappeared under a deluge of global and pan-Indian fare

Throw a stone in Goa today and it is bound to hit a new restaurant. The Sunshine State’s food and beverage scene is booming, as evidenced by new spaces popping up almost weekly. There’s Italian, Greek, Mediterranean, and Southeast Asian on the menu; craft cocktails behind the bar; and an emphasis on trending words like ‘organic’, ‘farm to table’, and ‘homegrown’. That’s why some call Goa the new ‘culinary capital of India’. While the seemingly burgeoning growth of restaurants might bode well for the state’s economy and employment status, has it gradually diluted Goa’s local, regional cuisine?

 Dig a little deeper, beyond the social media hype, and there’s something missing: An adequate representation of Goan cuisine. In the year-and-a-half this writer has dedicated to writing on the restaurant and food space in Goa, there are only a handful of restaurants that are truly Goan, or are working to promote Goan food. “People once came to Goa to eat Goan food but that’s not happening anymore. Given the massive influx of cuisines and brands, regional cuisine has taken a backseat,” says Gracian de Souza, chef and co-owner of The Village Bistro in Arpora.   

How, then, does Goa become the country’s culinary capital when Goan food is being pushed to the background? 

Demand and supply

At the Goa Heritage festival in November last year, food writer Vikram Doctor was in conversation with author Fatima da Silva Gracias. He asked the question that was on many of our minds: Why don’t we find little-known recipes in Goan restaurants? Da Silva Gracias was forthright: “The recipes are available, but people need to ask for them, and people need to cook them.”

This brings us to that popular chicken-and-egg question: What came first, the low demand for Goan food or the low availability of Goan food? 

 “The demand is not enough,” says Gracian bluntly. “The locals aren’t going out enough to eat Goan food, and there aren’t enough tourists eager to eat or experiment with it.” At the launch of his restaurant, Gracian expressed interest in starting a place that would spotlight modern Goan and Portuguese dishes. He has, since, changed his mind. “Goa is a seasonal tourist market that appears to have a mass market palate. Even food institutions are changing their menus because of the demand. Where is the space for someone who wants to make Goan food the authentic way?”

It’s a story that is common in Goan restaurants across the state. Butter chicken, paneer tikka, dal fry and fried rice have made their way into thali joints too, sitting incongruously besides Goan rice, curries, fried fish and snacks. It’s largely tourists driving this demand.  

 It could be one of the reasons Goan cuisine appears to have stagnated in a swamp of fish curries, cafreal, xacuti and thalis. Restaurants prefer sticking to tried and tested dishes rather than experimenting with something new. In addition, the Goan clientele would rather eat something different from the food they eat at home. “Goans tend to compare the food they’re eating with what they make at home. This fear of comparison and criticism is what could be putting many people off starting a Goan place,” says Arati Naik, owner, Isabella’s Tapas Bar in Panaji. 

 “Goans are creatures of habit and rarely want to step out of their comfort zone, so all we are doing is living in our bubble of xacuti and pork roast,” says chef Jason de Souza, co-owner, White Plate by Chef Jason in Candolim. “Goan food has taken a tremendous backseat because there are few willing to experiment and take it further.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jason started sharing Youtube videos of his cooking experiments, including ‘elements of Goan food’. He was trolled for his pairings (vindaloo with fugiyas) and the overall ‘Goan-ness’ of the dish. “As claustrophobic as we are with our love for Goan food, we are not open to people experimenting with it,” he says. Jason’s new restaurant—which opened in December 2022—has a menu with some Goan elements. There’s corned veal tongue served with beetroot kokum gel; wilted tambdi bhaji on toast with brie and air-dried pears; Goan chorizo pot pie with amsol foam; and cornish crab timbale with butter garlic crab and kismur dust. “Goan food doesn’t always need to scream that it is Goan. People should be able to figure it out and recognise the flavours,” he says. 

 It’s why chef Avinash Martins’ food is so beloved because it still retains its ‘Goan-ness’. Martins started Cavatina in 2013, serving what he does best: Continental fare. It was the pandemic that changed his outlook on food, which was soon reflected in Cavatina’s menu. The restaurant now serves what he calls re-imagined Goan food: Mushroom xec xec bisque, tender coconut carpaccio, Betul Bay prawns with raw mango ambot tik, and smoked duck breast with chorizo risotto. “What gave me the inner confidence [to change the menu] was the story behind the meals, and not taking the ‘Goan-ness’ away from the dishes. I retain the original flavours but present it in a different way,” he says. “People are often taken by surprise: How can Goan food look so good?” 

Food warriors and the future 

Martins is one of those people slowly working to change people’s perception of Goan food. He sources everything locally. His L’Avi: a Table in the Hills is an intimate farm-to-fork meal at his farm, and last month, at the Serendipity Arts Festival, Martins worked with tribal cooks of the Velip and Gaonkar communities to present a lunch menu. “As long as there are food warriors, we will make sure the right image of Goan food will be portrayed,” he says. 

 There are other food warriors like him. Shubhra Shankwalker of Aai’s Kitchen does catering and pop-up meals at her farm, serving Saraswat fare she grew up eating. In the south, The Goan Kitchen has been working to popularise Goan Catholic food through pop-ups, a sit-down lunch and at their small space in Margao. Tourism venture Soul Travelling recently launched a Shivrak Sunday in Chorao, inviting guests to a farm where they try their hands at prepping food, and then eat a meal comprising 15 vegetarian dishes. The heritage Palácio do Deão in Quepem and Figueiredo Mansion in Loutolim also do Indo-Portuguese meals on request.

“Our Goans have to feel pride in their food. We have to encourage and support those who are doing good work in this space. If people apply their thought and energy, there is a lot that can be done with Goan food,” says Martins. “It takes more than ROIs and rentals. You have to think beyond the grid of hospitality if you want to push boundaries and do something new.”

Naik believes the need of the hour is to explore recipes from communities that haven’t been brought into the limelight. “I would love to be one of those people working to represent Goan food better”. 

“A lot of us coming back are going to do our bit,” says Jason. “Our cuisine is not going to die. It needs evolution, which will happen in time. There is hope.”

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