{"id":318486,"date":"2023-12-18T07:26:08","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T07:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/?p=318486"},"modified":"2023-12-18T07:26:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T07:26:08","slug":"christmas-recipe-guava-cheese-rose-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/celebrity\/christmas-recipe-guava-cheese-rose-cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Recipe: Guava Cheese, Rose Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audrey Crasto<\/strong> grew up in Mazgaon, central Mumbai, once a picturesque Roman Catholic neighbourhood of old stone houses, lovely churches, cheek-by-jowl Portuguese villages and a place of sonorous sounds, like guitars strumming and church bells.<\/p>\n

Christmas was, and still is, a busy time in Mazgaon, when every home starts cooking up a rumpus. So along with the usual sounds, the tunes of Christmas carolling practice rent the air, and Mazgaon, at that time, also gained some of the best fragrances in the city, as thousands of homes got down to baking plum cakes, bolinhas and frying or stirring up rose cookies, kulkuls, fudge, marzipan, dodols and sorpotels.<\/p>\n

“A few weeks back I visited My brother in Mazagaon. Normally I go there just a couple of times a year, late evening for a birthday party or during the Christmas week or Easter,” says Audrey’s husband Ivan. “This time I stayed overnight and spent a couple of days there just to look around the place where I grew up and how it is now.”<\/p>\n

“As I walked through the streets, it was hard to believe that this sleeping, peaceful locality, of what was one of Bombay’s seven islands, has changed so much over the last 40 years or so. Most of the tiled houses and buildings with wooden staircases had given way to high-rise structures. The East Indians and Goans, who originally lived there were hard to find; the sense of calm in the neighbourhood was conspicuous by its absence. The pavements have been taken over by hawkers and maddening crowds.”<\/p>\n

“Gone was the day when you would wake up to your favourite song playing from someone’s gramophone or a two-in-one, or meet someone sitting outside his house playing the guitar or kids playing marbles in the passage. With most of the original residents having moved out of the building, there was hardly anyone to be seen.<\/p>\n

“I still remember the door to the entrance of the house only being shut at night. Grandmamas used to be streaming through those open doors ready to offer help or advice with cooking tips. Now there’s not a door open; that ‘Good morning, goodnight’ we would greet elders with was not heard. Really sad, the serenity and brotherhood that was associated with the place is no more. It’s no longer maza-gav!”<\/p>\n

Those lovely memories of that<\/em> Mazgaon, fortunately still live on in the delicacies whipped up for Christmas, wherever the Crastos are. Rose Cookies<\/strong> and Guava Cheese<\/strong> are two winning preparations Audrey has always made for Christmas.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rose Cookies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Servings: 25-30<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n