Found every evening at Anjuna crossroads, Noronha’s food truck was set up by 3 brothers Joseph, Lazarus and Charles in 2019 and specialises in poee sandwiches. Poee is the classic Goan bread made with whole wheat flour and bran, one of the few local breads that continue to be used on an everyday basis and hasn’t been completely erased by industrial bread. Noronha’s makes classic Goan poee sandwiches, from choris to beef tongue to sorpotel and even pork add mass on weekends. There is no random pandering to tourists with crap like a paneer poee sandwich (the two vegetarian dishes are cheese toast and Maggi).
This is undiluted stuff. The choris made me wonder if Lazarus was named after being resurrected on eating some. The beef tongue was soft and melt in the mouth and makes me wonder why more places in india don’t serve tongue. We also got some tart vinegary choris, some pork roast and beef roast sandwiches and beef croquettes. This is not refined cooking. You could do with more vegetables for example. But that’s the whole point. When looking for Goan food, you’re often stuck with slapdash touristy food, where the flavours are diluted and where people invent things like chicken sorpotel and claim it’s Goan. So it’s important to go and eat the real thing. Everyday food for everyday people, where the sophistication lies in the hours of prep work, the souring and curing, the blending of fat and sauce and vinegar and traditional masalas and meat to create that one satisfying bite of carbs and meat and full bodied flavour.
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