A Photo Walk through Mapusa Market With Lorraine Lobo

Nachiket Pimprikar follows Lorraine Lobo in Mapusa Market as she does her Friday shopping. Mapusa is an old market, stocking fresh produce, dried fish and mango for the monsoon, local jaggery and salts, vinegars, sausages, and more. A walk through Mapusa is a glimpse of what it means to live in Goa.

Mapusa’s market is easily one of my favourite places in Goa.

Long before weekend plans were a thing, we had a fixed Friday plan: shop at Mapusa market. It was our day to find the widest variety of produce, sample interesting snacks and stock up on local eggs, pickles and other delicious treats.

As a Mapusa resident since my teens, this market has been a big part of my life. As children, we would accompany my mother there, watching in fascination, as she bargained with vendors (always successfully), ended up doing boni (the first and most important sale of the day) for many, and helping carry her bags to the nearby stand to catch the bus home. My memories of the place included heat, chaos and noise.

It is only as an adult — one who writes on food, and is fascinated by markets — that I have understood its value. It is where I can find anything and everything, where I can chat with vendors and learn how to identify and understand unknown ingredients (they even tell me how to cook them!), and find many long-forgotten sweets and dishes.

My love for the market is thanks to my mother, the aforementioned Lorraine Lobo, for whom this market has been a mainstay since she married and moved to Goa in the 1980s. It is without exaggeration that I can say, my mum knows this market like the back of her hand. She knows every landmark, and can guide you on the phone to any place within it (as she has done with several friends of mine). She has her favourite vendors and shops, who always give her a discount and will always engage in conversation with her. She doesn’t believe in gatekeeping and has introduced many people to these shops, helping them load up on food souvenirs.

On his recent trip to Goa, she took Nachiket Pimprikar on a walk through the Friday market.

My mum, in her usual market attire — always a cap, and a big bag.

My mum and sister-in-law, Larissa, often shop at the market together.

Mapusa market was Goa’s first planned market, built in 1960. The name of the market, and the town that it resides in is derived for maap, the Konkani word for measure.

The entrance to the market has murals on both walls. The stalls here sell lottery tickets, and other knickknacks. During Christmas season, one corner is dedicated to a life-size crib and at Chaturthi time, an idol of Ganesha.

The market has a set of small buildings and covered pavilions, which are divided by roads, and open spaces where vendors sit.

Everyone has their favourite shop in the market. Mayekar is a family favourite for its gram.

Mapusa became popular for its Friday market, which has people travel from all over Goa to sell their wares. Majority of them come from Bardez itself, carrying small bundles of vegetables, herbs and chillies from their gardens or farms. You can buy coconuts, fruit like jackfruit, mango or cashew (when in season), and bottles of kokum syrup — distinguished by their jet black colour, and local toddy vinegar.

The Portuguese are believed to have brought chillies (mirsang: Konkani) to Goa. Soon, the spice started inhabiting local dishes, adding colour, vibrancy and heat. Across Goa, different villages were known for their chilli varieties. The Harmal chilli has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag too. A unique quirk in Goa is spelling chilli as chilly, especially in dishes like beef chilly fry.

Summer months are when Goa practises (though in dwindling numbers) purumenth. Derived from the Portuguese word for provisions, purumenth is the art of preparing for the monsoon season in summer. In the past, when monsoons were harsh, fishing was banned, and fresh produce was hard to come by, people would stock their larders in summer. This involved drying and salting fish, mango and jackfruit seeds, kokum, chillies, and coconut; pickling some of them; and making wine and toddy vinegar. At the end of the May, some markets (including Mapusa) are filled with this purumenth platter.

Dried kokum, which is used to add sourness to many fish curries and that favourite pork dish, solantulem.

The Goan sausage or choris is one of our most famous imports, prized for its tangy, spicy notes and for being able to add flavour to any dish. It is made with pork and a variety of spices and chillies, with a dash of toddy vinegar. The sausages are sold as ‘links’ or ‘rosary beads’ — the latter are more common in South Goa. Most vendors sit in one section; you can’t possibly miss them, your nose will guide you there.

The beginning of summer heralds the cashew season in Goa. Cashew is an important crop, prized for cashewnuts, and for the cashew apple, whose juice is extracted, fermented and distilled to make urraca, and feni. The fresh, tender cashewnuts, locally called bibbe, are prized and either eaten plain or in a tondak (coconut curry).

Chepnem tor is a popular summer pickle, made by mixing raw mangoes (or tor) with salt and chillies and placing them under weight, until the water drains out, giving them that typical wrinkled look.

Goa was once home to a number of salt pans (mithache agor: Konkani), part of the aqua-agro agricultural system called khazans. It was once a common profession but over the years, these salt pans are dwindling, only visible in areas like Nerul or Ribandar. This sea salt isn’t processed, is believed to be healthy, is typically used during marination, and is sold for cheap.

Sea salt, farmed at a dwindling number of salt pans in Goa, is unprocessed and was once widely used to marinate, and salt produce for drying.

Beyond produce, there is a lot to find in Mapusa market, from plants and manure to readymade masalas, flowers and earthenware. Each section of the market is dedicated to one produce: either flowers, or fish, or gram, or sausages.

A walk around Mapusa market offers true insight into the lives and cuisine of Goa. It is an explosion go colours, sounds, sights, aromas and tastes…you engage all your senses here. Goa has many other markets, but Mapusa market remains unparalleled.

Words by Joanna Lobo, photos by Nachiket Pimprikar .

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