Friday, January 21, 2011

The Cashew season just started.. in Goa..

Its said there are four seasons in Goa - Summer, Rainy, a bit of Winter and then its the season of Cashew Feni... In fact, tourists say an integral Goan experience can be found simply by sniffing the air during cashew apple season; so prevalent is the smell of the distilling fruit.
Feni or Fenny, as it is also spelled, is a drink synonymous with Goa just as Scotch is synonymous with Scotland, Tequila with Mexico, or Champagne with France! Indeed, the cognoscenti will testify that a well aged Feni can be as smooth as any aged single malt. There are 2 types of Feni: Cashew feni and Coconut feni. Cashew feni is distilled out of the juice of the cashew apples, whereas Coconut Feni is distilled from the toddy collected of the coconut trees. The traditional method of making cashew feni is by the pot still method.

Norman Noronha says here

It was during the rainy season and I used to move out most of the times in the rains.
My Mai (Mother) said 'Baba, tuka tonddi zalea, illo cashew soro ghe, rokdoch boro zatalo'
She did the same thing as mentioned in the article below, burning the cashew feni and putting in our ancient cups (kalxeo) and serving me.
I had two-three cups while Mai was away, which made me tipsy. I got upthe next day but Mai's medicine really worked. Cold was really gone !!!!!!!

1 comment:

Leif Hagen said...

Namaskara Yogesh! I've always wonder how those yummy cashews grow.....
Dhanyavadagalu