Cashew Nuts (Anacardium occidentale)
Native to Brazil, brought to India and Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the 16th century, roasted and dusted with […]
Recipes
Maldive Fish
Vietnamese and Thai have their fish sauce, the Romans had their garum, Indonesians and Malaysians have prawn pastes, Italians […]
To refrain from destroying living creatures: Buddhist influences
Sinhalese Buddhists have eaten meat for centuries. Excavations at Anuradhapura indicates that ‘the expansion of the city and increasingly social […]
Chena cultivation: precursor to all Sri Lankan cultivation.
The beginning of rice cultivation in Sri Lanka is likely to have been under chena cultivation. The Mahvamsa makes mention […]
Chow chow in the Christmas cake: Chinese influences
Chinese food in Sri Lanka continues to sit apart, identified clearly as Chinese and eaten for its exoticism/foreignness and not […]
More than oil balls: Dutch influences
‘It remains a mystery how the sole contribution to world culinary heritage made by a country with a virtual monopoly […]
‘They kill Deer and fry the Flesh over the fire’: Foodways of the Wanniya-laeto
Both the present day Wanniya-laeto and Sri Lankan paleo-archaeologists claim the Wanniya-laeto as the Indigenous population of Sri Lanka, in […]
Cakes and the Columbian Exchange: Portuguese influences
The influence of the Portuguese runs much deeper than sweets. Sri Lankan cuisine is almost unthinkable without the range of […]
The most lovely vegetable curries: South Indian influences
Southern Indians have had a long history of settlement in Sri Lanka and there are recognizable affinities between Sri Lankan […]
May for me prosper: Vedic influences
‘May for me prosper, through the sacrifice, milk, sap, ghee, honey, eating and drinking at the common table, ploughing, rains, […]