No trip to Mumbai is complete without PAAV

Even dishes that a country considers most traditional can come from somewhere else. Ingredients and recipes cross borders and transform, each meal containing its own narrative. This is as much true in India as anywhere else. Here, certain foods are one of the more benign legacies of colonization. And few dishes are a better example of this than pav, a soft Portuguese bread roll that's a beloved component of some of Mumbai's favorite street foods.

In 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed on the western coast of India. His arrival signaled the beginning of Portuguese colonization on the coasts of India that would last until 1961. The early traders brought food from the Americas like potatoes, tomatoes, and chilies. They also brought the preference for leavened bread, pão in Portuguese, which was the only type of bread that could be used for Catholic Communion during Mass. 

In 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed on the western coast of India. His arrival signaled the beginning of Portuguese colonization on the coasts of India that would last until 1961. The early traders brought food from the Americas like potatoes, tomatoes, and chilies. They also brought the preference for leavened bread, pão in Portuguese, which was the only type of bread that could be used for Catholic Communion during Mass.

In the state of Goa on the western coast of India, the Portuguese pressured Goan cooks to make leavened wheat bread. India had ample wheat flour, but bread yeast was difficult to source, Lizzie Collingham wrote in her book Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. The cooks turned to toddy, a palm sap alcohol, to ferment the dough. Thus, pav was born.

 
Portugal ruled Goa as a colony until it was liberated in 1961, 14 years after India gained independence from Britain. Over time, people in the country started serving pav alongside traditional dishes. Commuting workers took to pav filled with other ingredients because of its easy portability.

Over the years, especially the years after liberation, many Goans migrated to Mumbai in search of work. Parsi immigrants from Iran went to Mumbai and joined the workforce as well, adapting pav into dishes served at traditional Irani bakeries and cafes. Pav was served with meat, curries, vegetables, and fried potatoes — all manner of dishes received the pav treatment.

Today, pav is still seen as fast and convenient food. It's no longer just for the working class anymore, however. Even Bollywood celebrities in Mumbai can't get enough. The humble pav has gone from being a Goan-Portuguese specialty to something eaten by Indians everywhere. Pav-based meals are served 24/7, and no trip to Mumbai would be complete without sampling as many as possible.

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