Can one Categorise Goan food?

So how does one categorize Goan cuisine? Locals say that it has four different tastes which comprise of four S’s – ‘Sourness, Spiciness, Saltiness and Sweetness’. The question however to be addressed is- was it the ingredients alone that categorized the cuisine? Or was it the rich colorful history of ‘conquests’ right from the original settlers the Saraswats. Or could it be the ingredients?. 

Take the case of bananas cooked in Christian and Hindu homes

                                                                

 

Banana pancake....dessert made from over ripe bananas

 Khelful Shaak...accompaniment made of raw banana

With the fusion of different styles of cooking and ingredients to the legacy of what is available in local homes today, I found out that the cuisine of Goa is uniquely categorized to encompass five main categories (and in saying so I might state that the color, taste and texture varies enormously) although there are many similar preparations in their kitchens.We discovered that Goan cuisine can be categorised as follows                                                                    

                                                            GOAN CUISINE                                                                          

Saraswat         Hindu Goan           Muslim Goan                Portuguese Goan                 Christian Goan