The word Vindaloo is bastardised from the popular Goan-Portuguese dish, Porco Carne Vinho D'alhos (meat marinated in wine vinegar and garlic), which originated in India in the 15th century, when Portuguese colonials arrived bringing with them for the first time both pigs and chillies discovered in the Americas. The 'garlic vinegar' was used to preserve the meat before refrigerators and still gives the dish its distinctive tang, even in the less authentic British curry-house version, which has evolved into a dish in its own right and is now something of a fiery institution. Although this is a very popular Christmas dish back home in Madeira, I prefer marinating the pork the Goan way, with white wine, vinegar, lots of garlic, plenty of spices, fresh chillies, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, coriander and cumin seeds and bay leaf. After a couple of days of marinating, I cook the meat in the oven as recommended by chef Heston Blumenthal by letting the pork come up to about sixty degrees to keep the moisture in the pork (using a meat thermometer), followed by resting for about half an hour. Once the pork is cooked and rested I follow the same steps for my favourite Beef Wellington recipe by chef Gordon Ramsay I love the provenance of this dish: five-hundred-year-old fusion cuisine from Portugal and India fused again now with the classic British Wellington.