The King of Vegetables.

Elsewhere the brinjal is known by other names – Aubergine, Eggplant, Badinjan, and so on. Go here for an account of the etymology and how the names trace back to Tamil and Sanskrit.

The fertile village of Taleigao was once renowned for its exceptional produce. The cultivars traditionally grown in Goa have always stood taller than the produce imported from the other states. You don’t have to take my word for it. Sample the local banana or the Malcorado mango, for instance. It is at once clear that these are the superior articles. The watermelons from my ancestral village of Parra were in a league of their own.

The beauty below was plucked this morning from the patch in Taleigao seen in the backdrop. Every day the seasonal harvest is laid out by the fields’ edge. Zero miles from farm to table, long before the idea became fashionable.

Just a few decades ago this was our life in Goa, the real deal, not a staged version of the “Farmer’s Market.” Then India rained on us, pouring onto our land a seemingly endless supply of people and concrete. The green areas for cultivation have now shrunk to the point of extinction. For reasons unknown, this is celebrated as ‘development.’

Farm fresh
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