My Seventies Kitchen Episode 13: Vindaloo

Like many of the dishes we cook on this show, vindaloo is an item found on nearly every menu but tends to vary significantly in terms of quality. A standard element of Goan cuisine derived from the Portuguese Carne de vinha d’alhos (literally “meat in garlic marinade”), vindaloo is a dish of meat (most often pork) marinated in vinegar and garlic. The basic structure of the Portuguese style was the sailor’s “preserved” raw ingredients, packed in wooden barrels in alternating layers of pork and garlic, which is soaked in red wine. This was adopted by the local Goan cooks with the substitution of palm vinegar for the red wine and the addition of spices. Thus, it evolved into the localized and easy-to-pronounce dish “vindaloo.” The British Indian version of vindaloo calls for the meat to be marinated in vinegar, sugar, fresh ginger, and spices, then cooked with more spices. The British favored Goan cooks in restaurants and on ocean liners since they had no restrictions on handling beef, pork, and alcohol. 

In this version, I take elements of Vindaloo and Chinese red-cooked pork belly and fuse them together. This results in a spicy, tangy gravy to complement the fatty belly and smoky sausage. 

All Production by No End Media

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