At the time, he was working in the kitchen of the Mandovi Hotel in Panjim, under the tutelage of a senior chef, Caridade Alfonso. Caetano D’costa’s parents had a tiny tavern in a bylane of Saligao, selling cashew and palm feni distilled by a relative. His mother added homemade snacks to go along with drinks, and the little tavern immediately became a hit with the motorcycle-pilots of the region wh
o operated a local taxi service on their bikes.They brought their customers in increasing numbers. In 1985, the then 24 year old Mr.D’Costa left his job at the Mandovi Hotel and the tavern turned into Florentine. Today, this richly aromatic, long-marinated fried chicken that’s smothered in a spicy, coriander- heavy sauce is ubiquitous on restaurant menus across the state and widely known across the world as a signature Goan dish. Chicken Cafreal is a wonderful illustration of the Goan penchant to make instant classics out of new dishes. While storied traditions of the past are as prized as ever, the state’s culinary canon remains broadmindedly open to reinterpretation. “ I love the way we accept new things, and make them our own,” enthuses Fatima Da Silva Gracias, the state’s best known food historian and author. She points out how rissois, the widely popular stuffed pillows of dough derived from Portugal, are made in crescent shapes only in Goa, a clear influence of the traditional Hindu neuri pastries that are made both savoury and sweet for special occasions. Another newly invented iten that has become established in Goa’s culinary repertoire is Panjim city’s favourite snack: the ‘mushroom samosa”. The first man to serve Cafreal was GinesViegas, long-time proprietor of what was once Goa’s only standalone restaurant, O’ Coqueiro. A devoted food enthusiast who had travelled across the world, Viegas tried to make a local version of the ‘African Chicken’ he’d encountered in Macau(where it is buried under a thick layer of satay-style peanut sauce).His own coriander-flecked version became popular with tourists (gangster Charles Sobhraj was a regular too, before being arrested in Viegas’ restaurant). Soon, other eateries began to put their own spin on the dish. However, it is Florentine in north Goa’s Saligao that can claim the greatest credit for popularizing the dish. Most Goans remember their firdt taste of Chicken Cafreal there. It became a widespread favourite in just a few decades, and in popularising the dish, Caetano D’Costa and his family have changed the face of Goan food in no insignificant way. When I first visited Florentine in 1992, it was still a proudly unlabeled shack(albeit with a restaurant licence).But its Chicken Cafreal had already earned a reputation across the state. By then Mr.D’Costa had established the routine of perdonally marinating each piece of chicken in a secrect blend of fresh spices, chillies, lime,vinegar and ground coriander paste. All those hints come to your nostrils when the Cafreal appears on your table, but they in no way prepare you for the first bite. Mr.D’Costa fry the hefty chunks of chicken, with plenty of marinade, for far longer than you might imagine, but always under cover. This lends the dish its blackened look, and steeped, piquant taste, but also leaves the meat wonderfully moist and tender. It is a wonderfully addictive dish. I know many people who have gorged on Florentine’s Chicken Cafreal for lunch, then gone home(or back to their hotel) to nap, only to wake up craving it again, and return like homing pigeons for dinner. Others pack it in coolers to take back to Mumbai, or even Manchester. “I immediately loved Florentine’s Chicken Cafreal”,says Da Silva Gracias. Her husband would drive to the restaurant several times a month to pick up the dish for dinner. “unlike some of the versions I have tried before, it has a delicious, tangy gravy that goes really well with the Goanpoee (a robust pita-like local bread).
“That is how this restaurant grew from a four-table little room,” says a visibly proud D’Costa, now 51.”We never ever take shortcuts with the food and have always remained consistently focuses on our local customers. They have been loyal to us from the beginning and they know that Florentine will remain loyal to them”. And so, while Florentine’s premises itself have transformed radically from a shack to a multi-storeyed building that includes a paved children’s playground at the rear, its laidback charm and emphasis on fresh ingredients has remained unaltered. As for the staff, several familiars faces from the shack days are still around. Mr. D’Costa and his wife personally visit the markets at daybreak to select the day’s offerings: all the seafood on offer is correspondingly fresh and well prepared. The drink of choice is still unlabeledfeni straight from the distillery. While Mr. D’Costa is less of a fixture at the restaurant than he was in the early days, his philosophy has not budged from the days when he scorned the idea of the simplest signboard on the nearby highway to the beach belt. “Word of Mouth”, he used to say. “If my food is good, they will come”.(Directions pointing to Florentine are still sparse; first-timers looking for the restaurant often lose their way, while others happen to chance upon it.) The place remains packed with locals all year round, even at the height of the monsoons. Despite the fact that visitors to the state now come in unceasing droves and Florentine is singularly associated with one of the most famous dishes in Goa, Mr. D’Costa is uninterested in franchising or expanding the restaurant any further. That’s not Florentine’s style. In a state that has long since lost most of its once-prized, laidback sussegado vide, Mr.D’Costa restaurant remains an oasis of contentedness and simple Goan food.
