In 1930, Andre Mascarenhas returned to Goa from Mumbai with a dream and some treasured recipes. His years at Mumbai’s Iranian bakeries had taught him a lot — from perfecting the multi-tiered wedding ceremony cake to mastering buttercream. Again in Goa, within the pastel-hued lanes of Fontainhas, he based a bakery, Confeitaria 31 De Janeiro.
Immediately, the storied bakery is run by Andre’s grandson, Warren Mascarenhas, alongside together with his mom, Gletta. Over the many years, it has change into a cherished landmark, etched into Panaji’s culinary reminiscence.
Two issues distinguish Confeitaria: a swarm of individuals queuing as much as get their bakes — lately, nonetheless, the crowds are additionally composed of those that simply need to get a glimpse of the bakery’s new avatar after its renovation; and a tempting aroma.
Kids are interspersed with 80 and 90-year-olds, Warren shares, pointing to the latter being the loyal clients who’ve saved flocking to the bakery since his grandfather’s time. “My grandfather was in his late twenties when he opened the bakery,” he explains, sharing that along with bread and a handful of Goan staples — festive plum truffles, pinag (a candy made with rice, coconut and jaggery), Madeiran Bolo de Mel (honey cake), his grandfather launched the wine biscuits. This intrepidity meant lengthy nights, usually sleeping within the bakery itself as he tried to good the menu.
Warren grew up on these tales of his grandfather’s ardour. Tales should not the one factor he has to depend on, although. “We nonetheless have clients of their eighties and nineties coming in and telling us of how my grandfather would give them an additional cookie or cake,” he shares.
Then there’s the story of a neighbour who, as a boy, helped carry wooden into the bakery in trade for the trimmings of Swiss rolls, and the purchasers who inform Warren about how his grandfather would sneak buttercream into ready arms via a small gap within the window display screen.
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The truth that there are clients who hold coming again — to purchase their favourites and to reminisce — is a hit for the household.
Marking out an area for conventional Goan favourites
Cooking runs within the Mascarenhas household DNA. Its members convey a kind of alchemy to the kitchen. In actual fact, when Andre handed away, it was this love for his or her legacy and their culinary ingenuity that saved the household going.
Gletta, for one, recollects many afternoons spent sifting via yellowing recipe books, changing archaic measurement scales into trendy ones, translating Portuguese substances into English, and trying to crack her father-in-law’s culinary secrets and techniques.
However the thought, via the years, hasn’t simply been to remain true to custom, but in addition to introduce winks of become the method.
That is mirrored within the revamp that Confeitaria 31 De Janeiro has undergone; you’ll really feel you’re strolling into an Instagram web page. Actually. “We get lots of the younger crowd too, and so we’ve tried to cater to all people whereas additionally sustaining the previous world appeal,” Warren explains.
Elaborating on how they have been eager that the renovations don’t interrupt the present old style atmosphere of the bakery, he shares, “Every thing was picket inside. For years, we couldn’t renovate due to the mud partitions, and the construction remained untouched. However in 2021, we did a renovation. We strengthened the columns and acquired the place redone.”
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A kind of déjà vu creeps up on him as he manages the bakery. “I keep in mind once I was a baby, I’d sit on the counter and rely the change throughout my holidays. I used to be at all times answerable for answering the telephone.”
Warren joined his mom in operations after finishing his resort administration diploma. He was enthusiastic about carrying on the legacy.
Whereas the classics stay untouched, he’s loved creating every thing from a Bailey’s cheesecake pastry to a wood-fired twist on the Basque cheesecake.
The wooden fireplace offers Panaji its breakfast
The wood-fired oven at Confeitaria 31 De Janeiro is massive sufficient for a person to enter. Since 1930, the 20 ft x 20 ft area has been the place breads and puffs are baked within the mornings and truffles and puffs later within the day.
Nevertheless it’s not simply the wood-fire method that makes the bakes particular; Gletta explains, “We don’t use preservatives. Meaning a shelf lifetime of just some days, but in addition a flavour and freshness you possibly can’t get anyplace else.”
There’s additionally a 3rd facet that renders the bakery its success, Gletta shares. The workers at Confeitaria 31 De Janeiro have been round for many years; they know the enterprise higher than anybody else. “My father-in-law died at a really younger age. However we all know the workers who labored with him again within the day. A number of of them are of their fifties now; they have been very younger when my father-in-law first began working with them. They by no means left.”
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One of many first recipes that Gletta had stumbled upon in the recipe guide was bol sans rival. Crunchy, buttery and nutty is how most describe the big rectangular cake, which is characterised by French buttercream sandwiched in between layers of meringue.
“It was the primary recipe we tried, and it was superb. It got here out completely. My father-in-law used to place the cashew nuts within the wooden fireplace in order that they might get burned barely. That used to offer the cake a crispiness. That was the style I needed to realize,” she shares.
A few of the best-selling menu objects at Confeitaria 31 De Janeiro are bebinca (a layered cake made primarily from eggs, coconut, sugar, ghee and flour), doce de grao (Goan fudge), poye (staple Goan bread), serradura (Portuguese dessert made utilizing whipped cream and biscuit), and the rum balls.
And the following time you’re in Goa, you’ll know precisely the place breakfast is ready!
All footage courtesy Warren