Goa has some of the most tasteful heritage properties, and yet, most of them remain in ruins. The Palacio Do Deao in Quepem, South Goa, is one exception.
Clyde spends a day at this lavish mansion, uncovering its history and speaking to Ruben and Celio Vasco Da Gama - the couple responsible for restoring the mansion to its former glory. Manicured lawns with mermaid statues, a view of the Kushavati river, and a Michelin-standard hearty lunch is what greets Clyde here. A perfect place to spend a susegad day.
Join Clyde on this tour, and be prepared for some mouth-watering food descriptions!
Produced by Aishwarya Jawalgekar
Sound Design & Mix by Kshitij Jadhav
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Hosted by Clyde D’Souza. He is a creative director who has worked in TV, print, and digital. His book Susegad: The Goan Art Of Contentment captures Goa through conversations, memories, stories, recipes and much more. He lives between Mumbai and Goa and lives the Susegad lifestyle every day! Follow him on Instagram @clydedsouzaauthor.
This 200 year old mansion sits on a 2 acre property. It has a mermaid in its ornate garden, a waterfall and the Kushawati river in its back yard. But the real treasure of the Palacio De Deao mansion are Ruben and Celia Vasco De Gama who have restored it, live in it and run the tastiest home restaurant I have ever been to.
Hi I’m Clyde D’Souza and welcome to another episode of Susegad Shots. In this episode you’re going to get very very hungry.
There are some things you have to experience yourself. You will need all your senses to come into play. Merely listening to me describe my magical experience at Palacio De Deao won’t do. But let me try anyway.
The story starts with a nobleman named Jose Paulo Almeida who founded the town of Quepem in South Goa over 200 years ago. This was a time when most of it was a forest. so he built the market, hospital, the church and of course the mansion of our topic..the palacio de deao..meaning palace of the dean.
The mansion was built 236 years ago in 1787 and now is in the loving hands of husband-wife duo Ruben and Celia Vasco De Gama. The charming couple have taken on the heroic task of not only restoring and maintaining the historic mansion but also turning it into a living museum.
Walking up the magnificent steps of the palacio one takes in the statues on the lawns, the manicured gardens and as soon as you enter you see a glorious chapel. The mansion has rooms dedicated to a library, a games room, and after a quick tour by Ruben..we are taken to our table where we will be served lunch.
Now this is where I want you to put your imagination into overdrive.
We start lunch with a feni cocktail…and the crunchiest lightest prawn rissois I’ve ever had. This is followed by crabmeat served in its shell, and a mushroom toast pate.
At this point we start wondering that certainly Celia our chef must be a Michelin trained or atleast have a master chef degree. Before our discussion goes further..the next wave of culinary delight appears.
We feast on butter garlic snapper, goa rice, traditional tangy sungta bhende curry.
I take a lunch break and a short walk in the ornate garden where i spot a mermaid statue, further down I see the kushavati river flowing gently. Back in one of the rooms there’s an antique piano and an exquisite chess board where the dean almeida may have check mated some of the old quepem neighbours.
Opposite the mansion we can see the Holy Cross church under some kind of renovation.
I get back to my lunch…and finish off with some pumpkin pie, corn salad and a hearty bibinc.
At this point we wish we could take a siesta in one of the heritage rooms, but choose to talk with the owners Ruben and Celia. The first question we ask Celia..is where did she learn to cook. And to our complete surprise she said she learned all on her own right here on the Palacio property!
Ruben and Celia are charming, they live on their property with their children and are Goan heroes for not only keeping our history alive but delighting our palates with heritage luso goan cuisine. It’s clear..some heroe’s don't wear capes..nor chef hats..but are heroes nevertheless.
If you’re in Goa I strongly recommend you have a susegad lunch at Palacio de Deao…and do nothing for the rest of the day. You won’t be able to.
My susegad rating: a super satisfying burp. Trust me on this one
Thank you for listening, mog asu and see you on the next episode of Susegad Shots!