Hello everyone!
Welcome back to Yesterday’s Curry, my newsletter where I document my ongoing research into Goan cooking, and from now on also regular little updates taking you behind the scenes of my business endeavours. It’s been agggges since I wrote on here because I got so busy working as a private chef but loads of you have written to me on instagram to ask for more regular newsletter updates so I will deliver on that!
Thanks for reading Yesterday's Curry! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Before I dive into today’s post, I wanted to share a few exciting real life updates which have been keeping me very busy this year; firstly is that I will now be conducting my own Goan cooking classes at Leiths School of Food and Wine! It was such an honour to be invited to be one of their guest chefs after only studying there a few years ago and this Tuesday will be my second class after a very successful sell out class I did in October. I’ll do a proper write up on that next week. Also, after a few iterations of my spice blends since I started the business at the end of 2021, my range of Goan spices are now stocked exclusively in Selfridges department store! Those of you who live in London can find them there. I’m also working on some potential new products, and will document the research and development process on here in the coming weeks.
I went to visit Mervyn last week and it was such a great reminder that I need to get back on substack. We hadn’t seen each other since before I went to Goa (so, 2022!) and it was a real full circle moment. We reminisced on the first time we met back in November 2021 when I was just at the start of making spice blends and getting into Goan cooking. So much has happened since then!
The first time I wrote about Mervyn (linked below) the focus was very much on sharing his and Elsie’s story and learning about him as a person, but what I really want to showcase today is Mervyn’s cooking. Food is what brought us together and Mervyn pulled out all the stops for my visit and even gave me some ideas for things I’d love to try making as I started to work on more recipes for my private catering this summer.
#1: The entire spread: curries, pies, mango salad, chapatis
#2: Goan Sausage Pies - These were made using one year aged Goan sausage which, for those of you who don’t know, is Goa’s own spicy choris(chorizo) - Mervyn made the sausage himself using the recipe from his late wife Elsie’s Goan cookbook. A mixture of sauteed Goa sausage is then stuffed into puff pastry to make these moorish parcels.
#3: Spicy Chapatis - these were so good. Mervyn added spices and chilli straight into the flour before making the chapatis which give them a distinctive flavour, and then cut out with a pan lid to make the perfect circle; genius!
#4: Pork Vindalho - I’ve had Mervyn’s vindalho a couple of times and what makes it so good and so unique is that he uses wine to make it. Vindalho was originally made with wine when the Portuguese introduced the dish by preserving pork in wine, so this feels so close to what the dish probably originated as. Another secret ingredient Mervyn adds to his vindalho is feni, Goa’s cashew spirit - I’d have never thought to try that before but next time I’m definitely adding it to mine. The whole dish just takes on another level of depth with wine and feni.
#5: Goan Spinach and Quinoa Fry - using seeds sent to him straight from Goa, Mervyn grew the Goan spinach in his garden to make this delicious vegetable dish. Spinach, quinoa, chickpeas and spices make this a really filling and protein packed dish which is a great substitute for a vegetable curry.
#6: Chevda - My absolute favourite snack. I had just been telling Mervyn that I was planning to make Kenyan style chevda for a catering event next week, when he brings out this tupperware which he made last week on a whim. Spicy, sweet, salty, umami, just the perfect snack and I loved the addition of coconut pieces and kokum, giving this chevda a Goan twist.
#7: Yesterday’s Curry/Kalchi Kodi - whenever I visit, Mervyn saves me some kalchi kodi which he makes using Elsie’s sardine curry recipe and then reducing the sauce down to a thick paste and adding tinned sardines. His version is just the epitome of yesterday’s curry, so so rich and tangy.
#8: Chocolate covered crystallised ginger - these are addictive and a great idea for a Christmas present. You get the heat of the ginger which is then immediately mellowed out by the chocolate.
#9: Mint chocolate bites - these are another level and taste like after eights. I’m partial to mint chocolate and these are made by creating an icing, adding mint flavouring and then dipping in chocolate. Amazing!
#10: Last but not least, the pickle selection. There are a few more not in the photo, but every time I’ve visited Mervyn he’s sent me home with a huge bag of pickles and chutneys and this time was no exception. Tendli pickle, prawn balchao(my personal favourite), Bombay duck pickle, and not pictured, a sweet mango and lime chutney and aubergine pickle. I’d just run out of the pickles I brought back from Goa last year so these are very welcome in my fridge.
Thank you so much to Mervyn for cooking me this epic feast and for being a constant source of inspiration to keep going cooking and writing about Goan food! For those of you on instagram or tiktok you can watch some videos I took of Mervyn explaining these dishes: HERE (Instagram) and HERE (TikTok)
Over and out for now as this post is about to reach its size limit (oops) but I will be back with more updates soon!
xoxo Emma
LIKE
COMMENT
RESTACK
Subscribed
No comments:
Post a Comment