These pictures were taken during our last trip to Goa in January 2012 where we visited a historic eighteenth-century mansion in Quepem, Palacio De Deao, which the owner lovingly restored with original colonial-era sculptures, palanquins, and furniture. Catering to a company of ten Dalbergians and their associates, he fed us a sumptuous Indo-Portuguese dinner consisting of all kinds of delicacies, including fish in coconut sauce, Goan red rice, and, of course, the famous bebinca, an artery-blocking dessert made of sugar, ghee (clarified butter), 40 egg whites, and coconut milk.
The debauch was a continuation of the day before, when Misha and I celebrated the New Year a day late by going on a crab- and line-fishing trip to the Mandovi River, near our Benaulim Beach resort. Incidentally, this was a rustic place filled with endangered frogs, more than one of which wandered into our cabin and remained wide-eyed with wonder. These river crabs were caught by a rather simple method of casting nets filled with beef (chicken gets washed away too quickly, the fishermen explained), and attaching plastic bottles to them to mark the place. After about an hour, each net is pulled out to see if a crab treasure is inside--this has to be done very quickly so not one has a chance to escape. We caught eight in a couple of hours and ate them all heartily the next day. They had the hardest hard shell we've ever encountered in edible crustaceans but were tender and succulent on the inside.
And, with sadness, we said goodbye to the family we've befriended and whose house we stayed at many times on the gorgeous Galbibaug beach (their oldest daughter is shown here decorating their house for Diwali).
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