Jonathan Nunn, London-based food writer will be under the spotlight at the Goa Arts and Literature Festival ( Feb 12-14) very soon. The young foodie, who has strong Goan roots on the picturesque San Jacinto, island took time off to speak to LIVE NEWS GOA ahead of the popular festival.
•Given the fact that your mother is of Goan origin, are you excited about visiting Goa? What are the key points on your bucket list for this visit?
JN: Of course! First of all, GALF’s organiser Vivek Menezes is such an ambassador for Goan culture, and his excitement and love for Goa is infectious, so it’s a bit more than a homecoming. I wanted the first time I come to Goa to not be about beaches, or visiting family, or even food (although I will be doing all those things) but a chance to immerse myself in aspects of Goan culture I know little about. I can’t think of a better place to do that than GALF. Aside from that, I will be visiting Panaji, and Sao Jacinto Island where a lot my family is from – my grandmother used to talk about gathering clams on the shore there.
•When, how and why did you become a food writer? Which aspect of your profession gives you maximum joy?
JN: I didn’t decide to become a food writer and I’m not sure anyone does. I came through it, really, by chance. I worked in the tea industry in London for ten years, selling, sourcing and writing about it, which gave me a grounding in flavour and how food can be both cultural and agricultural. But it took someone asking me if I wanted to write about food for me to actually do it. In the end, it turned out it was all there, and I had been thinking about it for a long time without realising it. Strangely, my sisters claim they always knew I would write about food, and they have gone into food themselves, so we probably all have to credit my mum for instilling in us a benchmark for what good food is and that Goan-Catholic sense of omnivorousness.
• What is your personal opinion about these top 20 and top 50 restaurant lists that are bandied about in the media regularly?
JN: We love lists, so editors aren’t solely to blame for this, but it means that so much of food media has gravitated towards listicles and best ofs. Generally they’re easy to put together, without a sense of criticality, and can even be organised with the help of a PR. These types of lists tend to be about the same places again and again and inculcate a very limited idea of what food culture in a city is, or what it could be.
• You have said somewhere that “personal restaurant lists” beat these top 20 and top 50 lists. Why?
JN: I mainly said that to justify why I wrote my own list! But I do love these types of lists because they lean into the subjectivity of taste, and what could be more subjective than what food people like. Even within my family, people are forever debating the merit of different dishes, or the same dish cooked by different people, or even the same dish cooked by the same person in a different mood. I love people being personal and unreasonable about they like rather than something chosen by committee. Even the famous Sight and Sound film list, that is chosen by hundreds of votes – the joy of that list is being able to see the individual contributions and their reasons why.
• What is your favourite GOAN dish or food item and why?
JN: It would have to be sorpotel. Like with many things, I didn’t realise how blessed I was to grow up with it until I found people who had never tried it. It instilled in me a love of offal that I have to this day. It’s also why the nose-to-tail movement in London has never struck me as an interesting or novel idea – what could be more nose to tail than a properly made sorpotel?
