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Equipment · Jars, pots and crocks
A large earthen fermentation vessel used for cashew-apple juice in Goa; sources describe underground burial, with one recent field account showing pots partly set into the soil.
Kodem is the name used in Goa's Feni Policy for a large earthen vessel into which cashew-apple juice is poured and left to ferment. It belongs to the juice-fermentation stage of cashew-feni production. It is distinct from the bhann, the pot used to heat fermented juice during distillation, and from the smaller lavnni condenser. The policy describes the kodem as buried underground; a 2024 photo essay from Fazenda Cazulo shows rounded earthen pots partly set into the soil.
The pottery is the defining material of the traditional vessel, but the sources do not identify its clay body, temper, glaze, wall thickness, firing method, closure or standard capacity. A photograph of one working arrangement should not be treated as a specification for every kodem.
The Goa policy uses the general description “buried underground.” At the particular farm documented by GOYA, the pots are described as half-buried, with the ground contact serving as natural temperature regulation. That specific field account supports showing a vessel below ground, but neither source gives a measured depth or a standard cross-section. The burial diagram accompanying this entry is therefore an editorial explanation of the vessel–soil relationship, not an archaeological drawing, measured plan or claim that every site buries pots identically.
The exposed rim permits juice to be poured into the vessel. Beyond that functional opening and its buried placement, the inspected evidence does not establish a universal lid, seal or mouth shape.
Kodem use sits within a changing equipment landscape. Goa's 2021 policy lists earthen Kodem alongside food-grade plastic containers, ceramic or glazed-tile tanks, and compliant stainless-steel containers as options for cashew-juice fermentation in that policy. This does not make a plastic drum a kodem: the traditional term in the glossary refers to the large earthen buried vessel.
Dwijen Rangnekar's 2011 study, reporting Goa fieldwork from 2007–08, described kodems as large buried earthen pots and noted that they were already uncommon in the places observed, where food-grade plastic vats had replaced them. A 2024 photo essay documents a working example at Fazenda Cazulo. Together these sources show local variation and persistence, rather than a single material used by every producer.
This entry covers the large buried earthen fermenter for cashew-apple juice. The Goa policy also uses “kodem” in a distillation passage for the cold-water container around a condenser; that is a separate role and is not the subject illustrated here. The sources establish contemporary Goan use, not when the vessel originated, how widely it was once distributed, or whether every pot has the same form.
The Goa Feni Policy (2021) defines kodem as a large earthen vessel buried underground for cashew-apple juice to ferment. A 2024 field photo essay documents partly buried earthen pots at Fazenda Cazulo in Goa. A 2011 study based on fieldwork in 2007–08 described kodems as large buried pots and reported that they were becoming uncommon in the places observed, with food-grade plastic vats replacing them. These sources document a Goan use and change over time, not the vessel's origin date or prevalence across the state.
The policy's glossary identifies the fermentation kodem as a large buried earthen vessel, while the 2024 field account documents half-buried pots at one distillery. These do not establish a universal burial depth or geometry.
Source →Kodem here means the buried fermenting vessel. The same 2021 policy also uses the word for a cold-water container associated with a lavnni condenser; that distillation use is outside this entry.
Source →A 2011 paper reported that earthen kodems were becoming rare in the contexts observed and described food-grade plastic vats as replacements; a 2024 account documents continued use at one named Goa site. This is evidence of varied equipment in a changing practice, not a claim that one material is universal.
Source →These sources document kodem use in Goa; they do not establish an exclusive origin or one uniform construction.
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Government of Goa, Official Gazette, Series I No. 21Equipment · Definition · Process context · Geography
Goa Feni Policy, 2021The policy glossary defines Kodem as a large earthen vessel buried underground into which cashew-apple juice is poured and kept to ferment.
Section 7.4 (2021 policy) lists earthen Kodem among permitted cashew-juice fermentation containers alongside food-grade plastic, ceramic/glazed tile and stainless steel containers; this is a dated policy statement, not a claim about current regulations.
The glossary distinguishes the kodem fermentation vessel from the bhann distillation pot; the policy also uses the word kodem for a cold-water container in one distillation passage, so this entry is limited to the glossary's buried fermenting vessel.
Cited in: A buried earthen fermenter; Soil and vessel; One tradition, several containers; Scope and terminology
GOYADocumented use · Vessel form · Burial context · Image
The Making of Goa's Jungle Juice, UrracaA 2024 photo essay at Hansel Vaz's Fazenda Cazulo describes transferring first cashew juice to earthen pots half-buried in the ground.
The essay describes the ground contact as a way of regulating temperature at that site; it does not establish a universal burial depth or vessel design.
The article credits the photographs to Nachiket Pimprikar and reports the fermentation context for the pictured setup.
Cited in: A buried earthen fermenter; Soil and vessel; Scope and terminology
Environment and Planning A 43 (2011), pp. 2043–2059; University of Warwick repositoryHistory · Documented use · Geography · Materials change
Remaking place: the social construction of a Geographical Indication for FeniReports field observations and interviews conducted in 2007–08, describing Kodems as huge earthen pots buried to ferment extracted cashew juice.
The paper reports that Kodems were already rarely seen in the observed context and had been replaced by food-grade plastic vats; this is a time- and place-bounded observation, not a statewide census.
Cited in: One tradition, several containers; Scope and terminology