Prawns
in Bombay
My paternal grandfather, Zose de Freitas ("Tonto Zose"{ (short for Zose who limps) to his friends), was a fisherman in Chorao, Goa. He was a man of humble means,
so seafood featured largely in the family diet as his cantai (net)
fetched him a free haul of prawns and small fish daily from the nearby
irrigation canals, enough to feed his family - and then some. He had a paddy
field and a vegetable patch, coconut palms and a hillside plot with cashew
trees. The cashew crop provided him with an ample supply of cashew wine (cajel)
and cashew liquor (feni). In those days, few people in his part of the village
had luxuries and he did not aspire to be a bhatkar (wealthy landowner).
My grandmother, Ana Carlota, longed to move from the shack in
which she had raised her son and two daughters. Her dream came true when her
son, Gabriel (my father), found employment in East Africa and saved enough to
buy land from the Vas family in the vicinity of Capella Sacra Familia (the
Chapel of the Holy Family). Tonto Zose had died by then but Gabriel made sure
his mother lived in comfort for the rest of her life.
Now you can understand why I love seafood. The yearning for it
comes to me honestly through my de Freitas genes! During our stay in Chorao, we
were invited for lunch by a relative in the sister village of Piedade on the
nearby island of Divar. He was very much like my grandfather. Early in the
morning, the tide was right, so he went fishing with his cantai. The
lunch consisted of his catch. It was a feast fit for a king. There were prawns
cooked in every conceivable way. The largest were "butterflied" and
fried with a semolina coating, the medium ones were fried with onions, the
smaller ones were used for a sweet coconut curry, and the small fish were fried
crisp so you could crunch the bones. I drool just recalling that splendid lunch
served by our relatives!
The attached video was shot in Bombay but as far as seafood is
concerned, Goa has it all and what you get is fresh, mouth-watering - and
inexpensive! Enjoy your virtual meal!
Francisco
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