How our kitchen makes Goan fish curry
Coconut, kokum and the morning’s catch: the recipe behind the fish curry rice our guests ask for every day.
Christmas and New Year in South Goa
Midnight mass, star lanterns and a quieter New Year’s Eve: what the festive weeks are like in Canacona, and how to plan.
The two weeks from Christmas to New Year are the busiest of our season, and the most festive. They are also the weeks when South Goa feels most like itself, with village churches lit up and families gathering from Mumbai, the Gulf and beyond. Here is what to expect if you are staying with us.
From mid-December, star lanterns, called kandils, hang outside homes in Canacona, and many families build cribs in their front yards. On Christmas Eve, midnight mass is celebrated in churches across the taluka, and visitors are welcome if they dress modestly and arrive early. Our front desk can tell you the timings at the nearest parish church and arrange a taxi there and back.
Our kitchen marks the season too. From 20 December, Mrs Fernandes’s recipes for kulkuls, neureos, bebinca and dodol appear at tea time, and on Christmas Day lunch includes a roast, sorpotel and sannas. Guests who want to learn can join our cooks for an hour of kulkul rolling on the 23rd.
New Year’s Eve is quieter at Talpona than in the north. We serve a long dinner on the lawn with live Goan music that ends at 10.30 pm, after which the lights go low for the turtles. Guests who want a bigger party usually head to Palolem for a few hours. Book early. Rooms for 23 December to 2 January are usually full by September, a minimum stay of four nights applies, and the stay 4, pay 3 offer does not cover these dates. Taxis from the airport also cost more in festive week.
