Our day 2 at Park Hyatt Goa Resort And Spa for the Cashew Trail 2016 was both enthralling and adventurous.We started off early morning at 6:30 a.m. for the heritage walk with Dr. Subodh Kerkar, from Dr. L.P. Barbosa Road in South Goa. I was very lucky to have met this artistic genius Dr. Subodh Kerkar in person, since I am a big fan of his one kilometer work of art incorporating 600 Tibetan prayer flags titled – “Unfolding of a Dream”. He has given up his medical profession to chase after his dreams and be one with the visual art. There is something about this quality that makes me be more me, dream big and make things happen!
So begins our Goa Heritage Walk from Dr. L.P. Barbosa Road
Mr. Subodh took us on a one of a kind and a memorable heritage walks in the lanes of Goa where we all have holidayed but none of us ever looked at it so closely. As we walked past some colourful and vibrant Indo-Portuguese homes, he learned so many lesser-known facts about GOA.
For example, the Indo-Portuguese homes had different colours and different patterns when it came to their own boundary walls. One house had a painting of the very famous “Karera Vehicle” that was fully copper plated and it ran on steam in Goa many years ago as a mode of pubic transport. Also it was interesting to see a lot of the Portuguese homes had small family chapels inside their compound itself. We also crossed so many plantations that are likely to be found only in Goa like the breadfruit tree, musharrad mangoes, bimlas, etc. Due to the benefit of huge places and big compounds, most of the old Goan houses will boast of so many plantations of useful veggies and beautiful trees. We also saw how each and every house had a cross put up next to their houses that had flower garlands on them. Initially Portuguese used to not allow the Hindu rituals being adapted into Christianity, but slowly slowly these things merged and adapted. It was one ethereal and a heritage walk etched in history as I learned so many different and important facts about this magical place called Goa. Another very interesting fact I learned about the flowers Champa was that in the olden times, women especially from Hawaii used to wear champa flowers in their hair as a sign of them being single or taken. If a lady used to wear champa flower on the right side of her hair (behind the right ear), it means she is single. On the other hand if she used to wear it on the left side, it means she is already taken and not available.
So many intriguing facts I learned all thanks to the heritage walk as a part of the Cashew Trail 2016. And last but not the least, as we walked early morning, we had the paav waala pass us by so many times. The ritual of the breadman supplying fresh bread twice a day to all the Goans still continues.
Not to mention we got to experience the First Rains of the year as we had mild showers and even took shelter in a wooden hut while the rains decided to bid us goodbye.
After coming back to the hotel, chilling by the pool and also dipping into their most luxurious Jacuzzi at park Hyatt Goa are all a must haves when you are vacationing there next. And not to forget the huge step down bathtub that is a part of your villa including the open sky bath installed adjoining your villa calls out to you for yet another experience. Oh, I am missing all this already.
Our evening started with Dr. Subodh Kerkar taking us through yet another journey of culinary magic along with some great insights about our day-to-day spices, veggies and fruits. Did you know that cashews are called “Gomangoes” in Kerala, India is by far the largest producer of Cashews, the sap of chickoo was used to make the first gum, our very own champa flowers originally came from Central America and so much more. Post a very informative and unique session with Dr. Subodh Kerkar, we moved towards “Park Hyatt Masters Of Food & Wine” dining session at their goan themed restaurant Casa Sarita. This Food Odyssey is planned every season to revisit old Goan traditions – its culture, ingredients and flavour.
This meal was specially designed and crafted by Chef Paulo alongside Shatbi Basu adding in her golden touch with some exquisite selections of Feni from the Vaz Estate of Madame Rosa Distillers. The five course dinner consisted of a yummylicious spread of:
Chilli Tomato Tarare , Chilli And Crab Croquette, Chilli And Capsicum jam, NZ Lamb, Maldon Sea Salt With Fresh harvest Urak by your side.
I loved the lamb preparation even though I don’t dig lamb that much. It was so soft and well marinated. Plus for those who are a big fab of the fresh urak harvest, had a dreamy dinner with this perfect combination.
Caramelized Pumpkin And Breadfruit Soup had salted popcorn and roasted kernels mixed with it. I must admit that breadfruit has a unique taste whether you chose to eat directly by frying it or by mixing it in a paste for your soup. It also has a very creamy texture. Keeping company was their Cashew Feni.
This was a solid punch created by Shatbi Basu that consisted of Urak Granite with pineapple, guava, passionfruit and lime.
Next up was Sweet potato and potato cooked in two ways with balchao oil and salmon with Lembranca Cashew Feni Oak Cask 3 Yrs old. The Salmon complimented the sweet potato perfectly and the Lembranca was one of my favourite Feni drink of the evening.
Chocolate Custard, Chikoo Ice-Cream And Papaya Mousse (Cocoa And Chillituille, roasted peanuts, crumbs, macaron, passion fruit sauce, candied cashew nuts) with Cashew Feni Single Oak Cask from family’s private cellar 5 year old. I particularly loved the papaya mousse as it was very grand in every way!
So this was all about our day 2 at the much awaited #CashewTrail2016 Stay Tuned for more articles leading up to a GRAND FINALE!
Make sure to check out Day 1 Article – The Spirited Gourmet for Cashew Trail 2016
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Shubham
Awesome review like your blog