Goan Pork Roast
Photo: Carolina Ayala / Contributor
Goa is a tiny province located on the western shore of India off the coast of the Arabian Sea. Rice, seafood, coconut, pork and locally grown spices like black pepper, cardamom and cloves make up its cuisine, which is heavily influenced by Portuguese culture. The Portuguese introduced Catholicism to the locals along with colonizing them for centuries. The upside of this cultural mashup is that the Portuguese introduced Indians to cashews, potatoes, pork, chiles, tomatoes, guava and pineapple.
Goa is the only part of India where pork is consumed quite heavily, again due to the large Catholic population. So, when trying to concoct something meaty for the upcoming Father’s Day, I experimented with this pork loin marinated in Goan spices. In keeping with Goan cuisine, I’ve cooked the pork and the mushrooms in coconut oil but feel free to substitute with another fat like ghee or olive oil. The coconut milk, ginger and red wine vinegar add a lot of bold flavors so go as light or as heavy as you wish with the spices.