- by Aishwarya Javalgekar
If you go to the Goa Chitra Museum in Benaulim, Goa, you'll see these beautiful ceramic jars, in a uniform white and brown design. These elegant jars were traditionally used in Goan households to store cooking oil.
Goan cuisine is a blend of different culinary traditions; Hindu, Mughal and Portuguese. These diverse traditions are brought together by local ingredients such as vegetables, oils and spices, that given the cuisine its sumptious flavour.
The most important oil used in this cuisine is coconut oil.
Coconut oil is extracted from copra, dried pieces of coconut. The oil, which is usually a clear liquid, turns into a creamy white solid in cold weather. Most of the dishes in Goan and South Indian cuisine rely on coconut oil for their authentic flavour.
Apart from coconut oil, sesame, gingelli, groundnut and sunflower oils are also frequently used in Goan food. Other oils used are castor oil, cashew oil, cotton seed oil, neem oil, clove oil and eucalyptus oil.
I can almost picturize the jars, slick with oil, kept in an old Goan kitchen. Can you?
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| Ceramic Jars at Goa Chitra Museum |
Goan cuisine is a blend of different culinary traditions; Hindu, Mughal and Portuguese. These diverse traditions are brought together by local ingredients such as vegetables, oils and spices, that given the cuisine its sumptious flavour.
The most important oil used in this cuisine is coconut oil.
Coconut oil is extracted from copra, dried pieces of coconut. The oil, which is usually a clear liquid, turns into a creamy white solid in cold weather. Most of the dishes in Goan and South Indian cuisine rely on coconut oil for their authentic flavour.
Apart from coconut oil, sesame, gingelli, groundnut and sunflower oils are also frequently used in Goan food. Other oils used are castor oil, cashew oil, cotton seed oil, neem oil, clove oil and eucalyptus oil.
I can almost picturize the jars, slick with oil, kept in an old Goan kitchen. Can you?
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