Goan culture makes its debut in Jakarta

By Jason Tedjasukmana

JAKARTA (JP): While Indian restaurants are a staple in most metropolitan areas, their patrons tend to hail from northern India. The cuisine of southern India, however, is more difficult to come across in Jakarta, thus making the current festival of Goan cuisine at the Shah Jahan restaurant in the Sahid Jaya hotel all the more appetizing.

Goa is south of Bombay on the sub-continent's Konkan coast. In the former British colony, the history of the Goan people is an anomalous one. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to lay claim to the tiny area, creating a Portuguese stronghold on the Arabian Sea for over 450 years. Even after India gained its independence in 1947, the Portuguese refused to give up control of one of their most important ports in South Asia. It wasn't until 1961 that India was able to wrest control of the territory from the Portuguese. Though newly independent, Goa was not granted statehood until years later, becoming India's 23rd state in 1987.

Though some Indians refer to Goa as the "Brazil of India," famous for its carnivals and beautiful beaches, the tiny state does not enjoy the same international reputation as Bali. This doesn't, however, come as a great surprise; for in a country of nearly one billion people, the state of Goa is but a fingerprint on the giant map of India with a population of only 1.2 million people.

Unique culture

Vestiges of Portuguese hegemony have blended markedly with Hindu elements to form a unique Goan culture.

A troupe of Goan musicians, dancers, artists and chefs recently touched down in Jakarta and have now transformed the Shah Jahan restaurant with the "Festival of Goan Cuisine." The program, to last through Oct. 2, features live music and dance performances seven times daily. In addition, gourmands of Indian cuisine are likely to find a healthy variety of traditional Indian favorites and other less common Goan specialties.

The disparate influences dominating Goa have produced a Hindu- Christian culinary hybrid that is at times pungent and spicy, with other dishes being quite mild and sweet.

These unusual combinations reveal themselves most prominently in the wide range of sauces. An intelligent use of masalas ("spices" in Hindi) stands behind each sauce, lending tremendous flavor to each dish. With examples of over 30 vegetable, fish, chicken, lamb and beef dishes to choose from, one must select judiciously.

The Goan Seafood Broth is most unusual in that its base has a distinct Mediterranean flavor and slightly resembles a very light Italian minestrone. The noodles in the soup have the quality of homemade pasta and the ground shrimp nicely balances out the various textures in the broth.

The Galinha Cafreal is a succulent dish of chicken marinated in cafreal masala and stands out among the meat dishes. The okra in the Okra Peri Peri are cooked whole, simmered in a light peri peri curry and served once the outside of the okra is delicately softened.

Temperature plays a key role in their cuisine, the Goans believing their food best when served very hot. The main dishes are then served with steaming Basmati rice or Arrose, an aromatic vegetable rice pilaf.

Local dance

Though the focus of the festival is culinary, Goan musicians and dancers will be performing several regional dances, each unique in its own right.

The Jagor dance, based on a folk play believed to be the precursor to modern dance in Goa, is a spirited piece with two dancers on stilts and two wearing headdresses resembling giant potted plastic flowers.

A second dance, the Corredinho, better exemplifies the meeting of Portuguese and local Goan cultures. As the dancers hit the stage, the first thing one notices is the colorful dress, very reminiscent of traditional Portuguese garb. Secondly, the movements of the two couples bear an uncanny likeness to square dancing, a phenomenon, for better or for worse, that tends to be seeping into Eastern hemisphere.

The majority of the traditional Goan music played was more like mediocre pop music cranked out on a little organ, flute and guitar. Though interesting in nature, the music is not one of the festival's highlights.