At 6.45 am, Uttan, a sleepy coastal town in Thane district, is yet to see the morning sun. The smell of sea, salt and dried fish is punctuated by that of dough and freshly baked pao, sliced bread and khari wafting from bakeries that have already opened for the day. There is something very Christian about the naka, where our taxi stops. We can’t spot a church, but small crosses and idols dot the area—right next to a home, or at the mouth of a gully. The Our Lady of Vailankanni shrine is a few kilometres away—it was the crowd-puller here, at least before the pandemic. Goan home chef Aaron Albert D’Souza, who has travelled two hours from Mahim to be here, is already drawn to this place’s “susegaad” vibe, but he doesn’t admit it yet.

He used to be the manager at Lower Parel lounge Lord of The Drinks before he launched his home brand The Goan Poie in September 2020, winning over Mumbai’s foodies with his Recheado, Vindaloo, Chicken Cafreal and Sorpotel, among other delectable treats from his very-Goan menu. He is here to meet the multi-hyphenate Alefiya Jane, an East Indian chef who runs She Bakes, Dirty Bakery and The Bottle Masala, and is also a cake sculptor, plus-size model and brand strategist. Alefiya Jane, who prefers to go by her first name, has spent the early part of the morning baking two trays of Umber, a cucumber cake, using an heirloom recipe, at her 350-year-old family cottage in Uttan Naka. As soon as she spots D’Souza at her gate, she pointedly asks, “Where’s your Baath?” He lifts his translucent bag to show her the silver-foiled package, only to be at the receiving end of the first jibe of the day. “Just this... That’s too tiny to match up to my Umber.” He rolls his eyes. He thinks his Baath, the traditional Goan cake made of semolina and coconut, is definitely more delicious. “Don’t decide till you’ve eaten the Umber,” he overhears, as she leads us to her kitchen. This is not the first time that the duo is engaging in food banter. Barely seven hours earlier, over a Zoom call with this writer, it was Sorpotel, a dish that the Portuguese introduced to the two communities, which was their point of contention.