To enjoy one of the signature dishes of Goan cuisine, you literally have to rip out its entrails. Goan sausage does not make it to the plate in its original form, which resembles a long, smooth cylinder coiled in a spiral. There is no such thing as just frying it for Goan sausage. First, the cook has to open the lid and pour the insides of the sausage over some onion slices that have been previously simmered in additional oil.
Underweight individuals may want to add potato slices for extra nutrition… anyway, Goan sausage offers a sumptuous collection of bites surrounded by a deep red spice blend. You can definitely enjoy a tasty treat, but not one that is easy to digest or for the faint of heart thanks to a heavy load of cholesterol. As you may have guessed, Goan sausage belongs more to the comfort food category than to the healthy one… this asset is shared with the country of origin.
Just like its sausage, Goa can satisfy your heart and cause you trouble at the same time. Although it is now considered one of the signature dishes of Goan cuisine and some people call it a must-have in every kitchen cupboard, Goan sausage did not originate here. The art of sausage making was brought to Goa by the Portuguese, who invaded the country about 500 years ago. They converted masses of the local Hindu population, who never ate sausages, into Roman Catholics with a wide variety of non-vegetarian dishes made from newly imported ingredients.
Portuguese missionaries brought cashews from Brazil. As fervent believers in alcoholic sustenance, they discovered the potential of palm toddy as a base for hard liquor. This led to the production of feni from palm and cashew nuts and, consequently, to alcohol addiction among the population. Tamarind from tropical Africa, tobacco, potatoes, pineapples, papayas, and two varieties of chili peppers from Mexico were other imports of the invading Portuguese. Therefore, ingredients from various parts of the world provided Goa with a rich cuisine of its own, unique in India, a mixture of east and west.
All of this can be experienced today by simply cutting the skin off a Goan sausage. Immediately, the characteristic aroma of ground spices wafts through the air, tickling the taste buds and promising more delights. Normally this calorie bomb is made with pork but if you are lucky you can find beef and wild boar sausages. The minced meat is salted, mixed with masala and marinated. After being stuffed into a sausage casing, it is cured and dried. This centuries-old tradition of preserving meat without a refrigerator means that these sausages have a shelf life of more than eight months.
Goan sausages have to be tough, as local farmers sell them under the sun at city markets. Many families still raise their own pigs and use them to make sausages, mainly for the monsoon season when fresh fish is scarce. However, like Goa, the humble sausage loses its guise as a cheap, simple meal available for a few rupees in many bars and restaurants once it goes international.
You can buy Goan sausages online for about the same price as Parma ham or smoked salmon. In all fairness, the prized Goan sausage must be said to meet UK food standards. The original sold in Goa may have some trouble gaining international support as local food production sometimes lacks supervision and does not always follow the rules… However, once outside the country, the Goan sausage negates its humble origins and is transformed into an expensive delicacy.
The same experience can be done with and in Goa. If you book your vacation on the international market, it can become an expensive affair. Many people pay thousands of dollars to spend a few days in the luxurious resorts dotted around the beautiful southern coast of the country. In these 5 star skies, pampered and sheltered from any disturbing sight, wealthy tourists can experience the sweet life and leave Goa thinking that it is truly another tropical paradise of sun, sand and sea.
Unfortunately, these people have not opened the sausage and have missed discovering the soul of Goa. To explore the different morsels of Goa, one has to bring some time, patience and an inquiring mind. Once the sausage is cut open, you can see a variety of different bits and pieces. There are white dice of butter that resemble some of the tourists who have contributed to the wealth of the country. Like lard, these pieces somehow lack public recognition. They offer an easy target for media criticism from various factions of Goan society. Politicians especially condemn this influx of white meat as a deterioration of the local culture whenever they need a scapegoat.
Although they bring millions into the country, no one really thanks these people for the role they play in providing a lot of income for many local citizens. They share this fate with lard and its cured form, bacon: who ever praised the health benefits of lard? Ok, so maybe the actual health benefits are few, but don’t forget the tremendous amount of satisfaction and sense of relief after eating large amounts of animal meat.
At this point, you can probably guess that the author of this story is not from the vegetarian part of the population. Another ingredient that the sausage reveals is the meat. Now there are a few greyish, whitish bits left and also bits of meat that have turned brown from marinating in the masala. Like the so-called hippies who came to the country and opened it up to tourism, the basis of Goa’s current wealth, the off-white pieces resisted the influence of the masala.
The throngs of peace-loving people who came to Goa in the wake of the 1960s did not think about the Roman Catholic religion and Hinduism that dominated the country for centuries. The only thing that mattered to them was living a free and cheap life and having great parties. For a few years everyone was happy until greed took over on both sides. Some members of the local community found that there is much more money to be made selling drugs and stealing from foreigners than just renting rooms and serving food. Unfortunately, some of the foreign guests joined them to profit from the drug trade.
Goa quickly lost its innocence and acquired a bad name internationally as a place where anything goes, even though the country is much bigger than these few pieces. Even if the so-called hippies brought a lot of trouble, at the same time they greatly enriched the culture of Goa. Thanks to foreigners, the flea market in Anjuna was developed. This famous market displays a sample of products that come from all corners of the planet thanks to business travelers. The flea market is still a valuable source of income for many local entrepreneurs today.
In recent years, various Saturday night markets provide more business opportunities for local and foreign entrepreneurs. Although these foreigners are often branded as “hippies”, they enabled many Goans to make huge profits. However, they are often indiscriminately condemned in the media as drug dealers and hold a very low place in the public opinion of native Goans.
Fortunately, we found many morsels of brown meat that have taken on the color of the masala in our Goan sausage. Like these pieces, many people from different parts of India and the world have come to Goa, incorporated the local spice mix and added richness to its taste. Many times there is a big fuss in the media that Goa is losing its culture under all this foreign influx.
At this point one might ask: what culture to start with? The Hindu and Muslim culture that was present before the Portuguese? Like the Goan sausage, today’s culture is a mix of many ingredients that come from all over the world. Goa has melted these ingredients into a unique masala, which unfortunately does not last forever. Once incorporated into the sausage, the masala shares its 8-month shelf life.
So the culture of Goa, often praised but rarely explained, also remains a subject of change. Of course, it is easy to blame the parts of society, which stand out from the masala, for all the negative changes. The blame game is played around the world and does little to provide solutions to existing problems. What Goa needs are citizens who enjoy the masala mixture of the sausage. People exploring every bit of the ingredients that contribute to this traditional meal: the long list includes saltpeter and the ubiquitous feni.
Many people from around the world could contribute to making this state a better place. To analyze problems and contribute to their solutions it is not necessary to be born in Goa. The world is changing rapidly everywhere. Most of Goa’s problems are not unique to the country. Instead of cultivating xenophobic tendencies, Goa could benefit from experiences made in other parts of the world, brought here by internationally minded people.
Perhaps the time has come for Goans to embrace all the different parts of their diverse society. Without the blame game, much more time and energy would be available to address the real issues facing Goa. In the end, everyone would benefit from rolling up their sleeves and tackling issues that cannot be glossed over like ever-increasing mountains of garbage. One step towards a promising future for all the people living in Goa would be to join forces. Let’s hope Goan sausage is ready for a new recipe, just as delicious, but easier to digest.