As president of Culinary Forum of Goa, Chef Ranjeet Pandey, who is also the director of Food Production at Holiday Inn Resort Goa, feels that chefs in Goa do not have access to wide variety raw materials in the food industry. Talking to Food and Hospitality World about how the culinary trends are changing in the state, he also shares his expectations from the Goa edition of FHW exhibition By Saloni Bhatia
How has the food scene changed in Goa?
Goa was not a food hub when I came here about 17 years ago. It was a big challenge to source raw materials since they were not easily available. We had to get our exotic vegetables from cities like Pune and Bengaluru. Earlier, more of north Indian dishes were available at the restaurants and there was no sign of local cuisine. However, things have changed and we are looking at promoting Goan cuisine in a big way. Nowadays, the buffet in hotels has a special counter for Goan cuisine, so the people have a choice to try out the local cuisine. Restaurants also have separate menus highlighting the regional dishes and offering the local cuisine to tourists.
What trends have you seen in the food culture of Goa?
When tourism started increasing in Goa, there were no specialty restaurants focusing on local cuisine. We majorly had restaurants serving typical north Indian dishes that one could get anywhere. Slowly hotels and restaurants started serving regional dishes from Goan cuisine and people started enjoying it. So we tried to change the menu and introduce sea food dishes. Majorly people associated Goan food with non vegetarian dishes. But not many know that traditional Goan food inspired by Hindu cuisine has some wonderful vegetarian recipes. Goa might be a party place but we hope to highlight it as a food hub.
Your views on the growth of traditional Goan cuisine?
As member of the Goa Culinary Club we are promoting more and more traditional Goan recipes. We are also teaching the new generation of chefs how to standardise Goan recipes. We are hopeful that with more and more restaurants featuring local cuisine there will be a change in food trends of the place.
What new initiatives are you are taking to promote local cuisine?
I am also the food director at The Fisherman Wharf. It is a multi-cuisine restaurant mainly with sea food based dishes. The menu at the restaurant includes Goan dishes originating from Portuguese as well as Hindu culture. We already have properties in Goa, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. We are trying hard to put Goan cuisine on the food map of India. We will be opening The Fisherman Wharf in Dubai as well, which is a step forward to take the Goan cuisine across the globe. We also host a chefs’ exchange programme where chefs from India go to UK and promote the regional cuisine.
What are your expectations from the Goa edition of FHW exhibition?
I think this exhibition is a great opportunity for chefs to be introduced to many new raw materials. It also provides bigger exposure for raw material procurement in restaurants. We look forward to meeting people who can bring new raw materials to help our chefs promote local cuisine.