#BeefBan all you want. Can't mess with Goa, Kerala and the Northeast

Goa's chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar spoke to the press last Friday about how the state will not ban beef. He said that banning beef in Goa would mean asking the minorities (Christians and Muslims) to give up a major part of their diet.

Beef cutlets and beef roulade have been part of Goan cuisine - not to mention Portuguese legacy in India - for years. In fact, beef tongue is considered a delicacy and is an important part of celebratory meals. It does seem obtrusive to tamper with the way a particular cuisine has managed to establish itself - almost like culinary vandalism. Epicures will argue that eliminating a major ingredient might rob the cuisine of its essence and heritage value.

Goa isn't the only Indian state where people love the dense meat. It's paradoxical that the Northeastern, western and southern parts of a country, whose predominant religion reveres cows, consider beef to be an important part of their diet. Kerala definitely made a statement with its recent beef-eating festival to protest against Maharashtra's ban on the meat, too. Both Hindus and Muslims were a part of the protest headed by KU Biju of the Democratic Youth Federation of India; the state doesn't believe that eating beef has any religious repercussions.

Like Goa has its stews and curries, Kerala has its beef fry, and even a beef pickle, usually prepared by Catholics. Nagaland smokes its beef, and also dries it in the sun before using it in spicy curries. Even if state governments decide to ban cow slaughter for reasons that aren't purely religious, it's going to be unjust to ask communities to give up cooking techniques and food habits that they have followed for decades. After all, some of these recipes were scribbled in old notebooks whilst trying to keep up with a grandparent's drone, and are very dear to those who try to recreate them.