Goan Cashew Feni

Goa, western coast

Origin

Goan cashew feni is the spirit of the Goan villages, distilled from the fruit of the cashew tree Anacardium occidentale, which the Portuguese brought from Brazil to the Goan coast in the sixteenth century. Its name is protected as Goa cashew feni, a Geographical Indication, and it belongs to the household and village distiller, who works the fruit in the weeks of the hot season when it falls. The coconut feni, drawn from the toddy of the palm, is the older sister of the two and is a separate spirit under the same word.

Description

Cashew feni is a clear spirit distilled from the juice of the cashew apple, the swollen fruit stalk that carries the nut beneath it. The apples are trodden or pressed, the juice is left to ferment in earthen or other vessels, and the wash is then distilled twice in the traditional copper or clay still. The first distillation yields a weak spirit known as the urrak, which is the soft, seasonal drink of the village. The second yields the feni proper, which the distiller may run a third time to produce a spirit of greater strength, sometimes flavoured with spice or fruit. It is colourless, with a sharp, vegetal and slightly sweet nose that is unmistakable once known.

III

The Thread

—Both are spirits distilled from the by-product of another harvest, grappa from the pressed skins of the grape and feni from the fruit that the nut leaves behind, and both began as the drink of the farmhouse. Grappa is made from the pomace after pressing, whereas feni is made from the juice of the fruit itself. Italian

—Cachaça and feni share a Portuguese colonial history and a village distilling tradition built on a tropical crop, the first on fermented sugarcane juice and the second on cashew apple juice. Cachaça is a spirit of cane and is often aged in wood, while cashew feni is traditionally drunk unaged and clear. Brazilian

—Calvados, like feni, is a fruit spirit from a particular region, made by fermenting the juice of a tree fruit and distilling it in a regional manner. Calvados is made from apples and pears and is aged in oak for years, while feni is a younger, unwooded drink of the coast. French

Flavour Context

Cashew feni is drunk neat in small measures or mixed with lime, salt and a little soda or cola, in the manner of the Goan bar. It stands beside the fried fish, the sausage of pork and the sharp vindaloo of the Goan table, because its high, fruity pungency cuts the fat and the vinegar of those dishes and clears the palate between mouthfuls. The coconut feni is the lighter companion to the same plates.

V · Quality Hierarchy

Reserve feni is double-distilled in a traditional copper or clay pot still from fully ripe… Estate feni comes from a single village distillery that presses its own apples and distils…

VI · Sensory Tests

smell: A good feni gives off a clear, sharp scent of ripe cashew fruit with a green, slightly sweet edge…

VII · Where the dish lives or dies

Feni lives or dies at the cut of the second distillation, where the distiller separates the sharp heads from the clean heart and stops before…

Pillars V — VII

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