Feni

Goa's fierce, pungent country liquor, double-distilled from the fermented juice of the cashew apple, a protected spirit found nowhere else and the soul of the Goan tavern

Origin: India (Goa)

From the journey of Cashew.

When the Portuguese planted the Brazilian cashew on the laterite slopes of Goa from the 1560s, they set in train not only an Indian nut industry but a uniquely Goan spirit: feni. Made from the same perishable cashew apple that Brazil presses into cajuína, Goan feni takes the route of fermentation and fire instead. In the short cashew season the ripe apples are gathered, trodden or pressed for their juice (the niro), which is left to ferment for a few days and then distilled, traditionally in clay or copper pots, not once but twice, to produce a powerful, pungent, intensely aromatic spirit of around forty per cent alcohol or more. Cashew feni (there is a second feni made from coconut toddy) is so wholly bound to its place that it now holds a protected geographical indication and is produced nowhere else in the world. It is the everyday liquor of the Goan tavern, drunk neat with a wedge of lime and a pinch of salt, or lengthened with soda, lemonade, or the local citrus, and it carries, for Goans, the very smell of the cashew harvest and of home.

Ingredients

The Mash

10 kg ripe cashew apples, freshly gathered
no other ingredient is traditional; feni is the pure distillate of the cashew apple

To Serve

lime wedges and salt, or soda and citrus, to serve

Method

Separate the cashew apples from the nuts (the nuts are dried and roasted separately; never handle the caustic shells with bare hands). Crush or tread the ripe apples to extract their juice, the niro.
Allow the juice to ferment naturally in a covered vessel for about three days, until it has stopped bubbling and smells sharp and winey.
Distil the fermented juice once over a gentle fire in a pot still to produce a low-strength spirit called urrak.
Distil the urrak a second time, slowly, to concentrate it into feni proper, collecting the spirit and discarding the harsh first and last runnings.
Rest the feni before drinking. Serve it neat in small measures with lime and salt, or lengthened with soda, lemonade, or the Goan lime cordial.

Notes

Feni is, by its nature, an artisanal distilled spirit, made in Goa in the brief cashew season and protected by a geographical indication; home distillation of spirits is restricted or illegal in many countries, so this entry records the traditional method rather than recommending it be reproduced. To taste cashew feni, seek out a genuine GI-labelled Goan bottling. The single-distilled urrak is a seasonal Goan speciality in its own right.

The Gastrographer

Name: Feni
Prep time: 30 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 10 kg ripe cashew apples, freshly gathered; no other ingredient is traditional; feni is the pure distillate of the cashew apple; lime wedges and salt, or soda and citrus, to serve

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control