Review of Tale of Two Kitchens: A Culinary Journey through Cochin and Goa
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Selma Carvalho
Apr 17, 2026, 3:22:57 AM (7 days ago) Apr 17
to The Third Thursday Goa Book Club, Goa Writers
Cres was born and brought up on Vypeen Island, which “was one of the earliest Portuguese settlements in Kerala in the early 16th century." Her family has Dutch-Portuguese ancestry with a bit of Chinese thrown in, as some of her mother’s ancestors were from Macau. A strong Portuguese cultural influence persists across Goa, Kochi and Macau (all of which had a Portuguese presence) in the cuisine, blue pottery, intricately carved furniture and sailors who travelled back and forth. The language her parents spoke was a Vypeen Indo-Portuguese Creole. Vypeen is famous for Cheena Vala—large fishing nets that the Portuguese brought from Macau. The chapter, “Vypeen Memories," has a delightful legend about the rituals of the fisherfolk when they catch a dolphin.
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Selma Carvalho
Author of "Sisterhood of Swans" and "Notes on a Marriage" both published by Speaking Tiger, India.
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