Under the Coconut tree...

 

Staring out of the window of the plane in these new times of flying, I wonder the difference one virus has made in all our lives. Be it any industry but we are all affected in some way or another. I just visited Goa this season and realised how the place has changed. The state claiming to be the best place for any individual at any point of the year is now seeing a lack of tourists visiting it. The Hotels and Lodges are now much calmer and quieter than before. The airport isn't as busy as it used to be. The number of two-wheelers on the streets has reduced significantly but the Vibe of the place is still the same.

This year during my visit, I vowed to explore a different side of Goa, a more native & Portuguese side of it. Taking a tour across town was probably the best idea I ever had and started the tour with the oldest Portuguese Bakery in town. The 31 de Janerio Confetario located in a small alley of Panaji. In the small alley of Fortinhas, the Bakery still uses wood-fired clay ovens to produce its Portuguese delicacies. It just has two tables in front of it if you would want to dine there itself with the tabletops having tiles of doodles of Goa. But the cute little bakery proves the reason for surviving so long.
I had a chance to try the Local Goan - Portuguese Desserts and might I say the Portuguese perceived sweet petit fours extensively different than the French.
By the Influence of Portugal cuisine, the key flavour that sings through every one of them is of Coconut. Starting with the Plum Cake filled with dates and dry fruits to Perda and to Chonayacho Dos, there's a presence of coconut everywhere. Coconut brings freshness and sweetness in each of the desserts along with the strong sense of being next to the coast. The pairing of coconut with Jaggery in Chonyacho Dos, or in the layered and delicate Bebinca, it provides the different side of coconut in each bite. I imagined the journey of me tasting coconut was over and I would probably move on to Cashew soon after but it was a long way to go. The Meal that followed that evening was a Vegetable Stew with a local Goan Poee bread. Vegetable stew filled with exotic vegetables enhanced in their flavours due to the base flavour being Coconut.  The simple seasoning of Salt and Pepper enhanced the flavour of Coconut with still keeping it as a base flavour. I realised something that day, Coconut is probably the most understated flavour used in the world but most widely found. Coconut presence can be seen and found everywhere, the chutneys of Kerala, the coconut barfi of Rajasthan, Rafaello starting white chocolate coconut chocolates and the list goes on.

This pushed me to start a flavour profile of my line of cupcakes with this flavour & I decided to start my own line of the coconut goodies. A delicious Coconut Cupcake with toasted coconut flakes filled with a Coconut Gel topped with a buttercream frosting that once bitten into a whole, it’s the flavour of coconut in all aspects taking you to the coastal regions of anywhere you have travelled and playing the sound of waves hitting the shore in your mind. Coconut somehow tingles the memory of freshness and calmness at the same time and immediately transports you to a happy place.
 

Coconut is one the most versatile flavours in the abundance of fresh ingredients available. It seems to carry any flavour added to it, be it sweet or savoury. This time I might want to start making coconut and lemongrass white chocolate Bonbons to add to the profile of coconut.

 

Try looking around in your pantry for the ingredient that you have mostly used in the most understated manner. Could be the Peanuts or maybe the figs… or in this lovely winter maybe some pumpkin…

Do share your views and stories on underdogs of ingredients that you have found the most interesting. 






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