Pao: The Drop That Caused the Ripple

Tricia Fernandes

SYBA 2019

Traditional Goan Poie

Way way back in 1510, the Portuguese came and conquered the little region of Goa. With them came their culture, that has over time and till date been heavily woven together with traditional Goan culture. One major aspect of this was food, however Goans completely transformed and tweaked many dishes to make it appeal to the spice-loving ‘Indian’ palate, like Sarapotel, Vindaloo, prawn rissoles, Balchao and many more, and by adding the homegrown kokum and coconuts. One of these items is the glorious Pao; the baking of them in wood or coal fired ovens, the substitution of yeast with the local coconut toddy, and the “Poders” that cycled all over the Vaddos in the mornings, ringing their bells, meant that it became a daily staple. The toddy is significant because it shows the importance and integration of coconut in all forms, into a Konkan man’s lifestyle. In Goa there are many variations of Pao like the Poie, Undo, Kaknam, and others. Because of this undying love for pao, when these Goenkars migrated for better opportunities to Mumbai, so did this dish. 

What we must bear in mind here is that much of the migrant population comprised of the middle class, and when they reached Bombay they were a class that was slightly lower. They bunched together in areas over the city. Also, the difference in cooking of dishes and some ingredients resulted in them getting marginalized and looked down upon. In spite of this, they kept true to their roots, the pao seller on the cycle still rode the streets, and as Bombay became Mumbai, pao became paav and eventually a major part of the fast and cheap, working class’ culture.

It took a while before Mumbai’s elite laid out pao in their spreads. This was because of the English sliced bread that started to get manufactured around the same time in full swing by the well-known brand, Wibs. The British spread among the classes that they wished to interact with, that sliced bread was the way to go. Hence, resulting in a competition between the two types of bread.

In Goa, poi is coated in butter, soaked in tea, dipped in fish curry, and stuffed with chouriço. It is no wonder that the incredible versatility of the dish was recognized and adopted in Mumbai. It’s greatness stands in the fact that apart from being eaten alone, it is a great complement to other dishes. It is like the Prime Minister of Mumbai’s food culture, it can dip into everything around it. Missal, Vada, Kheema, Bajji paavs all try to give the most nutritive value to those with budget diets, some of these being portable gave a huge benefit to the on-the-go purchasers who rushed down the gully’s to catch the Mumbai local, or manual labourers who had to stand in line for work each morning. Another edge paav had over sliced bread was the freshness and warmth when it was just out of the oven, because Mumbaikars love their hot food. Or rather than waiting for the sandwich wala and their single toasters, the vada pav seller next to him already had his products piping hot and ready to go. Further more, if you look at particular food stalls, cafés, and even pop-up markets across the city, you find the pao stuffed with things like schezwan or manchurian chicken, crispy noodles, (one can say they drew inspiration from Xavier’s canteen) and other South-East Asian sauces. Though the dish may taste the same, the place that it gets purchased at holds class-value simply because of the price and location. Such dichotomy exists to “claim” the pao as upper middle class instead of lower class because of its availability. This fetishisation of dishes is quite common to make it, for the millennial, “Instagrammable”, and so that appears to be inaccessible, and haute culture, even when it is not.

Modern Rendition of Paav

Today, if you walk into a market you see a bakery with only male workers who tend to the dough, the ovens, and the sale of the pao. It has become sort of institutionalised, compared to the times when the wife cooked it in the kitchen and the husband then went out and sold it. It was, and still is, the woman of the house that controls what food is cooked, and when ladies talk to each other they exchange recipes, cooking styles, and how to cook something faster. So, I think it’s safe to say that women are the ones who set the food trends and it would’ve been the women that spread various dishes through social and economic classes.

Women were also, predominantly, the ones who took care of the babies. Especially when the man was out working, they took care of the socialisation process. Paediatricians even say that slowly babies should be introduced to eating food at the table with the entire family as it breeds a sense of communion, and the importance of the entire act of consumption of food. Pao have a soft center and also being very absorbable, makes it a good introduction food to solids. The same applies for older people who may have a tough time chewing foods. Hence, it is a dish for one and all.

Homemade paos 

 The Indian thali comprises of at least one gravy or curry dish, as a result, sitting down becomes a must. But could the arrival of paav into street food like vada paav, and paav bhaji, forwarded the rise of road-side stalls? Mumbai locals cannot think of living without either of the two, so much so that in 2010, the Bombay Times newspaper had hosted a contest for them, with grandeur. For many of us, the daily Vada paav, or missal paav from Patil’s is a must. Guess it’s kind of hard to think of what you’d even eat in a day if the Goans hadn’t brought pao here when they did.

When one migrates, the food of your homeland becomes a delicacy. Your new neighbours may not even be accepting of it. There are cases of immigrants all over the world that encounter this as well as in our own diverse city of Mumbai, where non-vegetarians are not allowed to live or rent in specific buildings or colonies. Being able to eat YOUR food which your ancestors have been cooking for decades becomes a struggle. The struggle of leaving and coming to a new city with nothing but the clothes on your back, of travelling that journey, hoping to reach your destination, of the feeling when you can’t understand the language, then making a living and providing for your family, and the result being able to feed your family with the food you know and love, and being contented.

Pao and poi was the food that defined the start of a new day in Goa. When the Goan colonies emerged in Mumbai, and the ‘Poder’ continued tradition, it defined the end of one struggle and the start of a new one. When Mumbaikars started to use it in what became defining dishes, they knew they were accepted. From being called “Maka pao” as an insult, to gladly claiming the title, I think Goankars have come a long way in this culturally heterogeneous city, and have also left their mark.

 

 

References:

Rajak, H. (2020). Goan Cuisine - hmhub. Retrieved 26 January 2020, from https://hmhub.me/goan-cuisine/

Appadurai, A. (1988). How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India. Cambridge University Press.

Cooking Communities.The Cultural Importance of Food | Rocio del Aguilla | TEDxWichitaStateUniversity. (2020). Retrieved 26 January 2020, from https://youtu.be/dPQCG_nYQPc

Mish, J. (2007). A HEAVY BURDEN OF IDENTITY: INDIA, FOOD, GLOBALIZATION, AND WOMEN (11th ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Ltd.

Cultural Significance of Food - Derek Hicks. (2020). Retrieved 26 January 2020, from https://youtu.be/ZVMbEJ5nksk