An ode to Sorpotel

By Philip Furtado

For the hotchpotch known as haggis
Let Scotchmen yearn or yell;
On the taste of Yorkshire pudding
Let the English fondly dwell
Their famed tandoori chicken
Let Punjabis praise like hell
But for us who hail from Goa
There's naught like SORPOTEL !

From the big wigs in Colaba,
to the small fry in Cavel
From the growing tribes in Bandra,
to the remnants in Parel.
From the lovely girls in Glaxo,
to the boys in Burma Shell
There's no Goan whose mouth won't water,
when you talk of SORPOTEL!

And oh, for Christmas dinner
Don't you think it would be swell
If, thanks, to a freak of fortune
Or by some magic spell,
We could as they can in Goa
Have a bottle of cajel
And toddy-leavened sannam
To go with SORPOTEL !

Comments : I liked the first paragraph of the poem. Also the random place which led me to it - for some reason, this poem is on the official Konkan Railway website.

Note : Cajel refers to a distilled liquor made of cashew and toddy is fermented coconut or palm juice, which is frequently used like yeast to make sannas, a type of rice cakes made in moulds with a batter of ground rice, toddy, coconut and sugar and then steamed.