My Day With Mervyn

And the enduring legacy of his wife Elsie Maciel

When I began sharing recipes in various Goan facebook groups during lockdown, I had no concept of the scale or reach of the online Goan community. As most of my readers know by now, I am half Goan but my only connection to Goa thus far has been through my late grandmother’s cooking and memories from Goan Christmas feasts as a child. This was of course until last year when I began to learn more about Goan cuisine and started sharing my recipes, illustrations and food writing on social media. As a result, over the past 18 months I have been introduced to dozens of members of the Goan diaspora through the sheer power of the internet. One such serendipitous encounter took place over the summer when I was invited by renowned Goan journalist Frederick Noronha to be an interview guest on his YouTube series BrieFNcounters. Frederick and I chatted all about my upbringing, my interest in Goan cuisine and my plans to conduct a research trip to Goa next year before writing my own Goan cookbook. Our conversation caught the attention of Frederick’s good friend Mervyn Maciel, a fellow Goan and a former member of the Kenyan civil service who now lives in leafy Sutton, a mere 20 minute train ride from myself.

Mervyn reached out to me via email, telling me that his late wife Elsie had written a Goan cookbook in the 80s and offering me a copy for my own research and perusal. He kindly shared a PDF version of Elsie’s Goan Cookery Book with me, and from there our online correspondence blossomed. I began to cook from Elsie’s book, sharing pictures of my creations with Mervyn, as he recounted tales from their 68 years together. Her sardine curry, later warmed up as kalchi kodi (“yesterday’s curry”) became a firm favourite in my household, and having tried many Goan fish curry recipes myself, Elsie’s remains unparalleled in its flavour. Mervyn and I discussed meeting up to share a kalchi kodi together and cement the new friendship we had forged over email. After 4 months of chatting back and forth until the coast was clear for a covid-safe meet up, Mervyn and I eventually arranged our visit, and last Thursday, I made my way to his humble abode to meet my friend in person.

Meeting Mervyn was like catching up with an old friend, despite this being our first meeting. He warmly welcomed me into his home, or “Manyatta” (Swahili for Masai Hut) as he and Elsie named it, a nod to their years in Africa. The walls of Mervyn’s home tell so many stories, many of which we had discussed briefly in our emails but which I couldn’t wait to hear in detail now that I was able to meet him properly. Black and white canvases of his career in Kenya’s Northern Frontier show a young man in his 20s surrounded by African tribesmen, whose children Mervyn fondly tells me he is still in regular contact with. Photographs on the fridge of Mervyn being gleefully greeted by Prince Charles at a luncheon, and with his daughter Josey at a garden party hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace show that Mervyn was quite a big deal back in the day, and still is by all accounts. Mervyn’s house is full of beautiful pottery, and I soon discovered that every item of ornate crockery was made by Elsie herself, one of her many talents. Before we sit to enjoy our lunch, Mervyn shows me bowls, plates, mugs, ceramic leaves and a pair of clay pigs that Elsie crafted herself, all self taught. As we sit down to chat, I ask Mervyn to tell me more about himself and Elsie and as he begins recounting stories about their life together, I can tell how much he misses her.

Mervyn was sadly orphaned at the age of 12, first losing his mother in childbirth and then his father, stepmother and step siblings during a ship torpedo attack in the Second World War, a fact I learned in a fascinating interview he shared with me, between himself and well known Goan Marius Fernandes. Elsie was born in Goa but grew up in the Kenyan highlands where she lived with her family until meeting Mervyn when he was 23 and she was 18. They married shortly thereafter in 1953, having 2 daughters and 3 sons, one of whom, Conrad, passed away in infancy. They moved to Kenya’s Northern Front District for Mervyn’s job, where he first worked with the Provincial Administration and then for the Ministry of Agriculture. During one of Mervyn’s posts at a wheat research plant in Njoro, Elsie was able to experiment with bread making, a skill she had picked up in adolescence and later perfected to such an extent that she was invited to give bread making demonstrations at a local high school later in life in the UK. 

Changes to his post with the Kenyan Government brought Mervyn and Elsie to the UK in 1966 and they settled into suburban Sutton which would become their forever home. Here they raised their 4 children and Elsie began to explore a variety of crafts and hobbies, all of which she excelled at. While Mervyn prepares me a delicious lentil soup laced with Elsie’s “soup spice mix”, he shows me the area in the kitchen where she would fold hundreds of samosas for friends and family who eagerly lined up to order them for special occasions, such was their high demand. Not stopping there, Elsie began her own Goan pickle business from their home kitchen, making a staggering 27 different varieties including Bombay duck, date and walnut, tendli and mango. Elsie was also a proficient baker and seamstress, not only making brandy laden fruit cake, but also an ornate 3 tier vegan cake for their daughters’ joint wedding. For this same wedding, Elsie designed and made both daughters’ wedding dresses as well as her own outfit. In disbelief as Mervyn is telling me all this, he also shows me jumpers and waistcoats she knitted for him, which I couldn’t believe weren’t made by a professional.

Despite not having a car, Mervyn and Elsie spent their weekends carrying suitcases full of produce and travelling by bus to display their goods at local fairs and schools. For 10 years they belonged to the Nonsuch Craft Group, showcasing Elsie’s pickles, jams, cakes, pottery and Mervyn’s marmalade at Bourne Hall in Ewell. As Mervyn and I are now tucking into our fish curry and Goan sausage patties, with a side of his own homemade chilli sauce, he lets me sift through a large leather-bound photo album. I can see for myself pages and pages of Elsie’s creations; teddy bears, rag dolls, vases, bridesmaids dresses. There seems to have been nothing that Elsie could not turn her hand to. But as Mervyn tells me, despite her many talents, she was incredibly humble and created beautiful crafts and homemade delicacies for others without expecting any recognition. I only wish I could have had the chance to meet her, though Mervyn paints a wonderful picture. 

In 1983, Elsie published her Goan Cookery Book, the first of its kind in the UK, and despite having a slow start, it eventually went into 3 reprints before selling out. The recipes in Elsie’s book are fantastic and easy to follow even for a novice cook new to Goan flavours. Her curry powder which is the base ingredient in many of her recipes is a perfect balance of spices which taste distinctly Goan, and since making a batch myself, I now always have a jar of it in my cupboard. Mervyn tells me that it wasn’t long before Elsie’s culinary talent caught the attention of people in high places. In the 80s her book was given a glowing review by Pat Chapman, owner of The Curry Club of Britain, an organisation which unfortunately no longer exists, despite mine and Mervyn’s attempts to track it down. Mr Chapman who incidentally used to organise culinary trips to Goa, invited Elsie and Mervyn to his establishment in Covent Garden and was so taken by Elsie’s pickles that they were included in the Curry Club’s Christmas hampers. 

Word of Elsie’s book and delicious pickles travelled fast and in the early 90s, the BBC production team working on Madhur Jaffrey’s television series wrote to Elsie expressing an interest in learning about her Goan cooking. In typical hospitable Goan fashion, Mervyn and Elsie invited the producer round for lunch, and Elsie happily shared with them her culinary secrets. As Mervyn tells me, Elsie was not secretive with her recipes and was always more than willing to share her knowledge with others. It was around the same time that Sharwoods approached Elsie to learn about home style and festive Goan cooking. Once again, invited round for a meal, the lady from Sharwoods was so impressed with Elsie’s pickles that she ended up buying a huge case of them to take home with her, alongside tips and tricks from Elsie on how to make the perfect pickle. 

With our meal, Mervyn and I toast to finally meeting, taking a sip of a vintage elderflower wine he and Elsie brewed in 2008. Wine making was one of the hobbies they enjoyed together, having made 10 different varieties from fruits and flowers picked from hedgerows in their garden. On top of this, they spent many years tending to an allotment and growing their own organic vegetables. It will come as no surprise that Mervyn doesn’t sit idly or waste his time, and he comes across as an incredibly positive person. Seldom do you meet someone that you want to emulate in your own life, but Mervyn is just that. At 92, he seems to have the energy and vigour of someone decades younger, and despite experiencing such a loss in his life so recently, he is remarkably stoic. 

As we finish up our meal and retire with a cup of tea and some of his homemade peppermint sweets, Mervyn and I chat a little more about his own pursuits. He tells me about his singing and his plans to release a CD of old favourites, the second he has put together with the help of a couple of friends. He shows me 2 books he has written; Bwana Karani written in 1985, a memoir of his time in Africa and From Mtoto to Mzee in 2014 in which he talks more about later life in the UK and in retirement with Elsie. We discuss his desire to write about Elsie and her pottery, and if I know anything about Mervyn in this short time, he certainly will. 

As I prepare to leave Mervyn’s home, with 8 varieties of pickles he made especially for my visit, he asks me to sign his visitors book which I do gladly. As I flick through it, I see hundreds of entries from everyone who has been a guest at Mervyn and Elsie’s home, going all the way back to the early 60s. It doesn’t surprise me at all to see how many people they have welcomed into their house for a meal or a cup of tea, or to see how gushing the messages are about their kindness and hospitality. My visit with Mervyn was a wholly positive experience and I very much look forward to the next one. As I sat at home that evening enjoying all of the food I was sent home with, I vowed to be a little more like Mervyn and Elsie in their zest for trying new things in life. 

Elsie sadly passed away at the start of the pandemic on 10th April 2020, and since then Mervyn has been very much keeping her memory alive. In conjunction with CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Mervyn has set up a fund in Elsie’s name in order to raise donations for her favourite causes and I hope that in writing about our visit, I can point some of you in the direction of her memorial page:

The Elsie Maciel Candlelight Fund

Despite Elsie’s Goan cookbook no longer being available for purchase, It would be remiss of me not to share one of her recipes, so I leave you with Elsie’s delicious Caldine recipe, a Goan staple which I hope will be a good introduction into Goan flavours for those of you who are new to the cuisine:

Base for Curry:

2 dessertspoons vegetable oil

1 large onion - sliced

1 piece of ginger - 1 inch crushed

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 green chilli - sliced

2 dessertspoons creamed coconut

2 dessertspoons vinegar

1/2 pint water

1 dessertspoon tamarind paste

Vegetables of your choice: okra, cauliflower, cabbage

Method:

Heat oil in a large pan and fry onion until golden brown, reduce heat and cook slowly, gradually adding all the ingredients (water and tamarind last). Bring to the boil and at this stage add the vegetables until tender.

I hope you all enjoyed hearing a little about my visit with Mervyn and the legacy his wife Elsie has left behind. It has been a pleasure getting to know Mervyn and I’m sure this will be the start of a great friendship.

Until next time!