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Go Goan here
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Ambience and food is all Goan. The nets and fish replicas too are no exception. A. Saye Sekhar narrates what all is Goan at Viva Goa.
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EYES OF Sindoori lit up in joy. With a glee on her face, she proudly announced: "It's my birthday.'' After all, there couldn't have been a better way of jollification on her birthday. The day being very special to her, this intermediate student, locked in the shackles of her gruelling study regimen at Sri Chaitanya Residential College, had her parents descend on Vijayawada from Vizianagaram for the occasion.
For her father, Ramana Murthy, a paediatrician, and her mother, Madhavi, it was a pleasant surprise at D.V.Manor on a cloudy Friday afternoon. Sindoori's cousin, Suneel, an ENT surgeon at Singari Hospitals in the city, and his sister, Kameswari, too chirped in to bring completeness to the gathering of the dear ones of the girl.
The trinity of Don, Henzil and Justin, draped in shirts of dazzling colours and sporting Goan hats, went up to Sindoori's table and rendered the Happy Birth Day song. Moving his nimble fingers fast on the frets of his guitar, Donald Periera donned the lead singer while the other two accompanied him. A few minutes before, the troika of Mando musicians rendered a Portuguese number, Maria Isabella... And, the skiffle went on.
Do they do it every day in the Aroma's restaurant? Nope. The occasion was so special that bar-tenders and stewards were all sporting Goan uniforms.
Go Goan amidst the four walls. D.V.Manor launched a Goan food festival -- Viva Goa -- on Friday and it would continue till June 28 at Aroma's. A proud Rajesh Berry, the general manager of the Hotel, went on and on telling every guest to enjoy the food festival. What's Goan among the delectable delicacies? Unpronounceable names of the dishes, mostly Portuguese, with of course, a typical Indian touch of spice seemed mouth-watering.
The spectrum of recipes served hot were: Galinha De Vindaloo, Xacuti-de-Cabrito, Peix-Ambot Tik and prawn Empadinha. Once tasted, one is sure to feel he's in Goa. The Hotel specially brought a Goan chef for the purpose. Whilst fish and coconut formed the major part of ingredients, the Goan delicacies were filled with Arabian and Portuguese flavours. The hot 'n' spicy Vindaloos, Temparades, Balchaos, Racheidos were blended with chicken, mutton and seafood.
The fermented sap of coconut tree or the fermented juice of cashew fruit make the most-sought-after and much-talked-about Feni. This is a theme drink in Goa. Sans Feni, the Goan experience cannot be complete. Thus, Mr. Berry ensured that the guests are served with cocktails with Feni base, strictly by choice. Desserts made of jaggery and coconut including Bebinica, Dodol, Leitry and Caramel adroned the smorgasbord to give a finishing touch to the main course. But, it would sure be unjust if the high quality taste of the soup made with a mix of a variety of seafood is not mentioned.
Face-painting and mock-tattooing is enticing kids and youths, who lined up for their turn, alike at Viva Goa. The nets and thermocol fish replicas and the ambience specially created for the occasion is more Goan, maybe, than Goa itself.
But, what is amiss? It's not beyond anybody's guess: the rangy beauties, clad in skimpy outfits, writhing on the hot sands on a sunny afternoon for tanning.
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Metro Plus
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Visakhapatnam
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