Geoffrey D’Sousa: Immigration, India, English Market, Food
Title
Geoffrey D’Sousa: Immigration, India, English Market, Food
Subject
Life History; Immigration; Occupation;
Description
Geoffrey is from New Delhi, India, and works in Cork as a chef. He talks about how he came to the city in 2001, he compares Ireland and India, and talks about his interest in cooking.
Geoffrey came to work in Cork at the invitation of two Irish people. He found people friendly and observed that pub culture was the way to socialise in Ireland. He enjoys the relaxed pace of life compared to home. He comments on the class structure and on inequalities of wealth in India. His passion is for cooking which is also his job; he cooks European cuisine rather than India
Note; This interview was conducted as part of the Cork 2005 Project
Geoffrey came to work in Cork at the invitation of two Irish people. He found people friendly and observed that pub culture was the way to socialise in Ireland. He enjoys the relaxed pace of life compared to home. He comments on the class structure and on inequalities of wealth in India. His passion is for cooking which is also his job; he cooks European cuisine rather than India
Note; This interview was conducted as part of the Cork 2005 Project
Date
3 March 2005
Identifier
CFP_SR00363_dsouza_2005
Coverage
Cork; Ireland; India; 2000s;
Relation
Cork 2005 Collection Catalogue Numbers:
CFP_SR00329_mccarthy_2004;
CFP_SR00330_odriscoll_2004;
CFP_SR00331_claffey_2004;
CFP_SR00332_hanover_2004;
CFP_SR00333_desplanques_2004;
CFP_SR00334_bale_2004;
CFP_SR00335_sheridan_1996;
CFP_SR00336_steiner-scott_2004;
CFP_SR00337_rot_2004;
CFP_SR00338_stafford_2004;
CFP_SR00339_odonoghue_2004;
CFP_SR00340_hawkins_2004;
CFP_SR00341_ocarroll_2004;
CFP_SR00342_ikebuasi_2004;
CFP_SR00343_ogeallabhain_2004;
CFP_SR00344_geaney_2004;
CFP_SR00345_wulff_2004;
CFP_SR00346_abdoulbaneeva_2004;
CFP_SR00347_gunes_2004;
CFP_SR00348_fourie_2004;
CFP_SR00349_henderson_2004;
CFP_SR00350_valdman_2004;
CFP_SR00351_carmody_2004;
CFP_SR00352_osullivan_2004;
CFP_SR00353_mahknanov_2004;
CFP_SR00354_oflynn_2004;
CFP_SR00355_akhter_2004;
CFP_SR00356_walker_2004;
CFP_SR00357_kelleher_2004;
CFP_SR00358_manresa_2004;
CFP_SR00359_wimpenny_2005;
CFP_SR00360_skotarczak_2005;
CFP_SR00361_vermeulen_2005;
CFP_SR00362_owen_2005;
CFP_SR00364_setter_2005;
CFP_SR00365_obrien_2005;
CFP_SR00366_botan_2005:
CFP_SR00329_mccarthy_2004;
CFP_SR00330_odriscoll_2004;
CFP_SR00331_claffey_2004;
CFP_SR00332_hanover_2004;
CFP_SR00333_desplanques_2004;
CFP_SR00334_bale_2004;
CFP_SR00335_sheridan_1996;
CFP_SR00336_steiner-scott_2004;
CFP_SR00337_rot_2004;
CFP_SR00338_stafford_2004;
CFP_SR00339_odonoghue_2004;
CFP_SR00340_hawkins_2004;
CFP_SR00341_ocarroll_2004;
CFP_SR00342_ikebuasi_2004;
CFP_SR00343_ogeallabhain_2004;
CFP_SR00344_geaney_2004;
CFP_SR00345_wulff_2004;
CFP_SR00346_abdoulbaneeva_2004;
CFP_SR00347_gunes_2004;
CFP_SR00348_fourie_2004;
CFP_SR00349_henderson_2004;
CFP_SR00350_valdman_2004;
CFP_SR00351_carmody_2004;
CFP_SR00352_osullivan_2004;
CFP_SR00353_mahknanov_2004;
CFP_SR00354_oflynn_2004;
CFP_SR00355_akhter_2004;
CFP_SR00356_walker_2004;
CFP_SR00357_kelleher_2004;
CFP_SR00358_manresa_2004;
CFP_SR00359_wimpenny_2005;
CFP_SR00360_skotarczak_2005;
CFP_SR00361_vermeulen_2005;
CFP_SR00362_owen_2005;
CFP_SR00364_setter_2005;
CFP_SR00365_obrien_2005;
CFP_SR00366_botan_2005:
Published Material;
‘How’s it Goin’, Boy? radio series (six thirty-minute episodes, broadcast 2005 and available on the Cork Folklore Project website)
O'Carroll, Clíona for the Cork Northside Folklore Project (2006) How's it goin', boy? Dublin: Nonsuch Publishing.
Source
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Language
English
Type
Sound
Format
1.wav File
Interviewee
Interviewer
Duration
32m 06s
Location
Cork City, Ireland.
Original Format
MiniDisc
Bit Rate/Frequency
16bit / 44.1kHz
Transcription
The following is a short extract from the interview transcript, copyright of the Cork Folklore Project. If you wish to access further archival material please contact CFP, folklorearchive@gmail.com
J.M: So you’re constantly building your level of knowledge so, really it’s an ongoing thing rather than it stopped when you finished your trade or your apprenticeship I should say, so it’s actually ongoing your knowledge base, the whole time. . .
G.D'S: In all aspects, you know, like even, one thing is very interesting is that Ireland is a big daily producing country: like it comes from cattle, the beef, the lamb, the whole thing, the way they treat it, the way it’s done, even go to English market, like many times I just stand there I say guys now I don’t mean to meddle, I’m just looking at what you’re doing, because like the way they do it, they’re so skilled at their thing, you know the way they cut off you know it’s just the bone left outside you know. Like those are, you go to fish markets and you see so many fresh fishes around, those are the true insights into society and the civilisation, and you know that how do people eat, what do people eat, and then you ask yourself the small questions: why is the fish so expensive and why do so little people eat so little fish, when then you go up and ask people and that’s the way they tell you, well most of it is exported, most of it is sold, and you know like, you know like you know like there are lopsided balances of eating like you know, people probably do an overdose of potato and prefer to die from eating potato, but then that again comes back from, from, from the times and history and if you can relate it then from an outsiders point of view you are like ah solving the jigsaw puzzle in a very positive way, so as you know when you are cooking for a person you will know what to cook, you know, you won’t cook up a whole, whole, whole new Indian meal with Indian gadgets, where you know it’s not working for you, you know, well people would say well it’s lovely but I don’t really eat that, now you know, so you will know that what to eat, you will make up a nice fillet steak with a bit of mash and a bit of gravy or garlic butter you know, like you just know that all those inputs all those inputs strong from around and that is I think that’s a way to go, you know, if you’re moving nobody can try to book for this for you, nobody can tell this to you, and when you can go to a local pub as well and you know down twenty pints and fall on top of somebody and people just laugh at you and they just accept you, and you’re fine you know, so it’s positive, positive. . .
J.M: OK very good ok Geoffrey, ok so to round off is there anything else that you would like to add to the interview perhaps a joke or saying from your country?
G.D'S: Well, well I think, I don’t really, I, I, I, hate saying this but then I don’t really know how to write my own mother tongue and it’s very hard to remember a joke from those countries (Laughs): I went to school where English was you can say that it was a first language, but it did a lot of good, and so I just say well you know like it’s just been a nice time, and I never regretted coming up here. When I was coming up to Cork and I wasn’t sure a lot of people were telling me that you’re crazy, maybe I thought I was making a mistake, you know and then Cork grew up as well you know with so many Europeans coming in like. I have a friend chef working with me, only we used to have a lot of problem staffing people, but now we have a lot of Slovenians, Slovakians, Georgians, and catering has become a lot more multi-cultural and it’s a lot more easier, and in my way I can see this small city growing up in a very, very positive way as well so I presume that’s a very positive note to end, you know, and, and, and, and, and that’s great to see because you would, you would not like to, and I don’t think any city would like to be just cornered out in a corner and em lay out there as if like oh that’s a tourist destination, go over there, that’s a tourist, and people come up here and they’re intrigued by the churches, the bells, by the small pay of cobble stone ways, sure where the restaurant is we have so many tourists roaming around, looking around, there is a little ballet theatre, you know, it just gives it more often, often Irish identity with a global prospective which is fantastic like you know, and I think that would be the best way to finish the whole thing, that you know it doesn’t come up to be just the typical Irish, Irish thing, or Irish countryside where it’s more Irish, Irish, Irish and nothing else, it just become more global and it’s more mellow, and, and it’s more upbeat, you know, you see a bit of colour, you see a bit of Chinese, you see Italians, you see Indians, they’re all doing their thing, and they all blend in which is fantastic.
J.M: Very good, the face of the new Ireland!
G.D'S: The face of the new Ireland.
J.M: Very good, thank you Geoffrey it was a pleasure.
G.D'S: Thanks a million, John.
J.M: So you’re constantly building your level of knowledge so, really it’s an ongoing thing rather than it stopped when you finished your trade or your apprenticeship I should say, so it’s actually ongoing your knowledge base, the whole time. . .
G.D'S: In all aspects, you know, like even, one thing is very interesting is that Ireland is a big daily producing country: like it comes from cattle, the beef, the lamb, the whole thing, the way they treat it, the way it’s done, even go to English market, like many times I just stand there I say guys now I don’t mean to meddle, I’m just looking at what you’re doing, because like the way they do it, they’re so skilled at their thing, you know the way they cut off you know it’s just the bone left outside you know. Like those are, you go to fish markets and you see so many fresh fishes around, those are the true insights into society and the civilisation, and you know that how do people eat, what do people eat, and then you ask yourself the small questions: why is the fish so expensive and why do so little people eat so little fish, when then you go up and ask people and that’s the way they tell you, well most of it is exported, most of it is sold, and you know like, you know like you know like there are lopsided balances of eating like you know, people probably do an overdose of potato and prefer to die from eating potato, but then that again comes back from, from, from the times and history and if you can relate it then from an outsiders point of view you are like ah solving the jigsaw puzzle in a very positive way, so as you know when you are cooking for a person you will know what to cook, you know, you won’t cook up a whole, whole, whole new Indian meal with Indian gadgets, where you know it’s not working for you, you know, well people would say well it’s lovely but I don’t really eat that, now you know, so you will know that what to eat, you will make up a nice fillet steak with a bit of mash and a bit of gravy or garlic butter you know, like you just know that all those inputs all those inputs strong from around and that is I think that’s a way to go, you know, if you’re moving nobody can try to book for this for you, nobody can tell this to you, and when you can go to a local pub as well and you know down twenty pints and fall on top of somebody and people just laugh at you and they just accept you, and you’re fine you know, so it’s positive, positive. . .
J.M: OK very good ok Geoffrey, ok so to round off is there anything else that you would like to add to the interview perhaps a joke or saying from your country?
G.D'S: Well, well I think, I don’t really, I, I, I, hate saying this but then I don’t really know how to write my own mother tongue and it’s very hard to remember a joke from those countries (Laughs): I went to school where English was you can say that it was a first language, but it did a lot of good, and so I just say well you know like it’s just been a nice time, and I never regretted coming up here. When I was coming up to Cork and I wasn’t sure a lot of people were telling me that you’re crazy, maybe I thought I was making a mistake, you know and then Cork grew up as well you know with so many Europeans coming in like. I have a friend chef working with me, only we used to have a lot of problem staffing people, but now we have a lot of Slovenians, Slovakians, Georgians, and catering has become a lot more multi-cultural and it’s a lot more easier, and in my way I can see this small city growing up in a very, very positive way as well so I presume that’s a very positive note to end, you know, and, and, and, and, and that’s great to see because you would, you would not like to, and I don’t think any city would like to be just cornered out in a corner and em lay out there as if like oh that’s a tourist destination, go over there, that’s a tourist, and people come up here and they’re intrigued by the churches, the bells, by the small pay of cobble stone ways, sure where the restaurant is we have so many tourists roaming around, looking around, there is a little ballet theatre, you know, it just gives it more often, often Irish identity with a global prospective which is fantastic like you know, and I think that would be the best way to finish the whole thing, that you know it doesn’t come up to be just the typical Irish, Irish thing, or Irish countryside where it’s more Irish, Irish, Irish and nothing else, it just become more global and it’s more mellow, and, and it’s more upbeat, you know, you see a bit of colour, you see a bit of Chinese, you see Italians, you see Indians, they’re all doing their thing, and they all blend in which is fantastic.
J.M: Very good, the face of the new Ireland!
G.D'S: The face of the new Ireland.
J.M: Very good, thank you Geoffrey it was a pleasure.
G.D'S: Thanks a million, John.
Collection
Citation
Cork Folklore Project , “Geoffrey D’Sousa: Immigration, India, English Market, Food,” accessed April 20, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/50.