The Portuguese call a "bun" a "pao", just like the goans. I know I have to say it the other way round, but I learnt the word in goa. Used to see the pao vendors every morning, out the same time as newspaper guys, going house to house and delivering pao. And of course the pao bhaji is definitely not Portuguese :)
That got me thinking about all the things Portuguese we grew up with, without even thinking about it (at least till now). Don't know why, but they were (and still are) referred to as "parangi" in malayalam - the old Portuguese are - u won't call ronaldo a parangi now. And vasco da gama or someone after that brought the cashew tree to kerala and goa and its pretty much everywhere now. The goans called it caju like Portuguese and made awesome fenny out of it...the mallus called the tree parangimaavu and called the nut a parangaandi - literally translated, that is a Portuguese nut that grows on a Portuguese mango tree !!
The tree itself did not come from portugal though, it came from brazil - another Portuguese colony.
And historical mallu movies (not super duper hit historical, but those that have some history in their story) that feature the Portuguese usually have some ligher-than-normal-dark-skinned-mallu actors wearing a blond wig and trying to speak malayalam with a british accent. Am yet to meet a blond Portuguese (even after looking for one in Portugal) and they seem to have a strong Portuguese accent !!
My resident consultant on these matters - my mother - says "they have to look and sound different - so isn't it easier to put a wig on a guy than try to change his color?"
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