As a Goan, having breakfast or a mid-morning snack in a restaurant, I would rather opt for an idli sambar or a vada sambhar with a cup of filter coffee over a breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and a cappuccino.
Of course, the first choice for breakfast would be a sukhi-patal mix bhaji, with pao, mirchi and coffee. But, a little variety in the form of South Indian dishes, and what has been described as the best breakfast in the world, would definitely be in order.
The choice of my breakfast would also be dictated on the value for money received.
While the Goan or South Indian breakfast would set me back by around Rs 150 at the maximum, and keep me going till lunch, the other breakfast described above would poke a hole in my pocket that would be four times that amount, at around Rs 600, and that’s a conservative estimate given the rates that some cafes charge.
While the Goan or South Indian breakfast would set me back by around Rs 150 at the maximum, and keep me going till lunch, the other breakfast described above would poke a hole in my pocket that would be four times that amount.
If there is idli sambar being sold along the coast of India, there are also Continental breakfasts, American breakfasts, and cuisines from regions and countries that, just a decade ago, would have been unheard of in Goa.
Even today, some of these cuisines are considered exotic and the dishes are priced exorbitantly.
For someone who grew up when Chinese cuisine was still a novelty in Goa and consisted mainly of fried rice or noodles and wontons, discovering the options of Mandarin or Schezwan, followed by Thai, and now Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese have expanded the horizons of the limited East Asian cuisine that I once knew about.
And then, there is pizza, pasta from Italy, the French a la carte, Russian cuisine with menus printed in the Cyrillic script that few of us understand, and Mexican cuisine to name just a few from across the world that are served up in Goa.
In fact, fresh from a trip to Italy, I do remember ordering a Pasta Bolognese in a restaurant over two decades ago, and getting looks of frowning surprise from the group with me. Today, those same individuals are pasta lovers.
So, what’s wrong with idli sambar? And, why has it suddenly become such a discussed topic in Goa and on tourism sites in India, with long articles being penned on it?
So, what’s wrong with idli sambar? And, why has it suddenly become such a discussed topic in Goa and on tourism sites in India, with long articles being penned on it?
So, an MLA said that footfalls of international tourists in Goa are low because idli sambar is sold along the coast. There is absolutely no co-relation between the two, for, as already mentioned, the South Indian breakfast is considered as among the best in the world, and I, for one, do believe that foreign tourists will try it out.
For that matter, can any starred hotel in Goa, that offers a breakfast buffet to its guests, claim that idli sambar is not one of the items on their heavily-laden tables every morning?
A restaurateur friend on the Southern coast of Goa once – and that was many years ago – mentioned that though his is primarily a Goan menu with select continental dishes, he does serve fried rice as families who patronise the restaurant seek that dish for their children, though it cannot be found on the menu.
For that matter, can any starred hotel in Goa, that offers a breakfast buffet to its guests, claim that idli sambar is not one of the items on their heavily-laden tables every morning?
I guess, if he served breakfast, he would have to add idli sambar to the menu or, despite it not being on the menu, serve it on demand.
If idli sambar is being sold along the coast of Goa, then it’s because there is a demand for it. It is not keeping tourists away, as whoever enters a restaurant has a choice of dishes to select from. Nobody is being forced to eat something that they don’t want.
Imagine an individual in England or Germany or Russia, deciding to cancel the Goa holiday plans because there is idli sambar on the menu. It just doesn’t add up!
It must be underlined that it is not just tourists who keep the restaurants in Goa in business. If dishes that the middle class can afford are taken off the menu and only the exotic, expensive cuisines of the world are offered, will Goans be able to afford eating out?
Rather than blaming a dish for driving tourists away, it is time to sit and list out what has been going wrong.
There will be other reasons, and these won’t be difficult to find as visitors to Goa do write about what they have not liked in the State, and idli sambar is definitely not one of them.
