A food and cultural extravaganza in Panaji

A multitude of food under one roof isn’t a common sight in Goa. However, every year, during a couple of events, Goans and tourists get a taste of what Goa has to offer, all at one place. During the Goa Food and Cultural Festival held at DB Ground in Panaji, from February 6 to 10, foodies were in for a treat. They could try food from the choicest restaurants, their favourite food trucks and even explore options by home chefs.
From pork roast, rawa fried seafood and beef tongue at the Goan food stalls to burgers, shwarma, malai tikka and biryani at the others, to beer mojitos and ice cream, the stalls at the festival had it all. “I was hoping to try some calamari, because that’s my favourite thing. I loved it. I also tried some chicken cafreal and prok chops. The portion sizes were huge, which is really needed when at a foodfestival. Plus the alcohol offers were pretty cool. I could buy beers for all my friends,” says Moses Saldanha from Porvorim.
Navami Prakash from Porvorim, says, “I always look forward to this event every year, as it showcases the mix of two best things, that is, a wide variety of unlimited food and a whole lot of entertainment. And being a foodie myself there is nothing more satisfying than to see multiple food outlets across Goa, gathered in one place. Some of the dishes that I tried out was chicken cafreal, chicken chilly, some kebabs and tikkas from the live food counters, burgers. One thing that caught my eye was a foam based prawn’s dish. It actually looked like foam settled on top, but it was made of chilly and lime which tasted spicy and tangy. The two dishes, I thoroughly enjoyed were the matka phukt biryani and BBQ ribs.”
The main stage came alive with performances by local and Indian artistes keeping the entertainment quotient high at the cultural extravaganza. Thursday saw Lulu Fortes with the Rhythm and Blues entertaining the crowd with the jazz and pop numbers. As the evening progressed, a Kochi based band Thaikkudam Bridge went up on stage.
The following day, a high-voltage dance performance by Goan dance group Danceophilia followed by the band Frontline set the ambiance right. Later in the evening, another band Bad Blood got the crowd groovy with their hard rock music. Pineapple Express, Altitude and Lagori were other bands that performed over the next few days.
“Great selection of live bands. The stalls are curated well. We need more events like these in Panjim. Atleast two every month,” quips Viresh Vazirani from Panaji, who was there for some Indian and local food fix.