Isabel Santa Rita Vas’s new play—It’s A Bebinca, Stupid!—ends with a theme song paying homage to the sweet binding power of the Goan delicacy. Goans are proud of the baked delight—high on sugar, egg yolks and coconut milk. As I watched one of the rehearsals of Vas’s play at her Dona Paula residence, I met a cluster of Goans of varying age groups, brought under the roof by the 71-year-old playwright-academic, who voted unanimously for bebinca’s choice as Goa’s trademark confection. 

I admired the consensus, but also wondered if puran poli could be voted as neighbouring Maharashtra’s popular sweet. It is prepared in varying ways across the state (not to forget the version in Gujarat), unlike modaks, which have a Konkan origin; Lord Ganpati gets the credit for popularising modaks in Vidarbha and Marathwada in recent decades.