Goa's Summer Date

THE EXOTIC FLOWER OF THE ELEPHANT FOOT YAM IS EATEN WIDELY IN THE RURAL PARTS OF THE STATE FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE ADVENT OF MONSOON

- Arti Das

OVER THE past five years, I have regularly spent my weekends at a village called Mashem. Situated in the southern taluka of Canacona, Goa, the place offers visitors the most interesting topography. While on one side, the sparkling blue Arabian Sea flows by, the Western Ghats overlook it on the other. This gave me ample scope to explore the rich biodiversity of the place, especially in terms of food.

During one such weekend in the scorching summer of May, I discovered the flower of elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius). It looked exotic, emerging fresh from the red earth, and its purplish pink thickskinned petals immediately caught my attention. Even though the yam is widely eaten in the rural parts of Goa, I had never seen its flower before. It blooms just for a few days before the arrival of monsoon.

The velvety funnel-shaped flower, which grows up to 45-50 cm and is encased in a spathe, has earned a bad reputation due to its rotten flesh-like odor. It mainly attracts carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies that help in pollination. However, a few days before the flower blooms fully, it is plucked by the people to make a special seasonal delicacy. At this stage, the flower does not smell foul.