Our White Door… nostalgia, food, identity and history.

I wrote last year about Our White Door, the magical old home in Margao belonging to the family of Fernando Monte Da Silva. Built 450 years ago, it was like stepping through a time portal, accompanied by Fernando’s stories and his knowledge for Goa. More than any other experience, it ignited in me a love and passion for discovering more about Goa as well as a desire to show the world that there is so much more to it than beaches and shacks and parties. 

Unfortunately what I wasn’t able to do last year was eat a meal at the villa. Fernando‘s wife Griselda is an accomplished chef and they do a wonderful experience where they marry her food with Fernando’s stories to create a dining experience that is unlike any you can ever have in Goa. 

We finally got around to eating Griselda’s food on our last visit and we all came away feeling privileged and fortunate at having experienced it. She does creative, modern takes on the food she grew up with or that mean something to her as a Goan, presented so that it makes people look at Goan food in a way that goes beyond the perception of heavy, oily, spicy curries eaten with bread and rice. 

This means that a prawn curry comes with seared shrimp and hand made noodles and garlic chips, similar to a khao suey but with indisputably Goan flavours. Or a pulled pork instead of the classic roast pork, bought from the same village grocers shop that she grew up with, served with a citrusy salad of local fruits and vegetables. All the dishes play on nostalgia and memory, as well as Goan history and identity, to create a meal that is greater than the sum of the dishes.. something that feels like a sensory version of an oral history. 

And giving voice to Griselda’s food is Fernando and his stories. This is a guy who knows Goa like no one I’ve ever met. He knows every hidden secret from every neighbourhood. Buildings and food and drink and statues and family stories and more. And all of that knowledge is wedded to a passion for food, for his heritage, for storytelling and sharing it with his friends and guests.

Make sure you take the time to connect with Fernando and Griselda when you’re in Goa next. You will be transported to a magical version of Goa you never imagined existed and both you and your idea of Goa will be transformed forever.