Learning a New Food Language

Maybe it is my passion for food in general, but I think that the heart and soul of a place resides in its local cuisine.  You gain a unique perspective about a place and its people when you sit down and take in a meal in that space.  A meal that has been expertly crafted from hands that don’t think twice about the ingredients or their preparation.  You smell the aromas of the spices, as they have existed in homes in that place for decades or even centuries.  You taste the varied and sometimes hidden flavors that can only be found in that particular kind of recipe.  You understand where a person comes from when you understand the food that has fueled their life.  And it doesn’t have to be somewhere exotic, like Sri Lanka; I feel that way about just about any place I’ve lived or visited, from the Northeast, to down South, to the West Coast, all the way to South Asia.  Food is an experience, one that is meant to be shared as such, like a conversation between a culture and an individual. 

The style of food here is quite different than what we were used to back in the States.  Ryan and I love South Asian food and we love things spicy; if we ordered out, we would more often than not order ethnic cuisines back home.  Hence, in our preparation for this move, found a Sri Lankan restaurant in Santa Cruz, California.  We tried to eat there several times, but always failed because we could never figure out when they were open.  Once nailed it down, we were excited to get a window into what we were going to be experiencing in our new home.  I had no idea what to expect going in – I had never had Sri Lankan food before.  The best I could guess was that it was going to be something like Indian food, which I love, so I wasn’t too concerned.  I hate to say it, but our experience at that restaurant wasn’t great.  This was more the fault of the restaurant itself and its staff and not the style of cuisine.  It may have been a bad night, as I've read some really glowing reviews about the place, but knowing what I know now, the execution just wasn’t there.  Some of the food was decent, but overall a lot of it was not enjoyable because it was extremely spicy – seemingly just for the sake of being spicy and not for the flavor of it.  As I have said before, Ryan and I like it hot so, we were prepared to take on whatever this place had to offer.  But, spicy food is not just about eating something to burn your face off.  There is a delicate balance of heat and flavor that comes with it as well.  Good spicy food has an intense amount of flavor with the heat, or at least it should.  With this food, it was hard to taste any flavors because the level of heat masked it all.  Needless to say we were both disappointed and a touch nervous about what we would find in our new home.  We reasoned that it was likely this restaurant was its own thing and not a full representation of Sri Lanka itself – so we walked away with that understanding and hoped for the best.

A Standard Plate of Sri Lankan Food

A Standard Plate of Indian Food

Here's what I have learned about Sri Lankan food since that isolated experience.  Yes, it does share a kinship with Indian food; there are some similarities.  Curry stands at the forefront of many main dishes; rice is a staple; coconut milk is used very often; and meals involve many side dishes and “condiments.”  But there are so many delicious and interesting nuances to Sri Lankan cuisine that set it apart from Indian food – especially since “Indian food” is really an umbrella term for the MANY styles of food that exist within the great space of India itself. That said, if you enjoy Indian food then you are probably going to enjoy Sri Lankan food as well.  When you sit down to have a Sri Lankan meal for the first time, though, looking over the menu or table offering can feel overwhelming.  It's really almost like learning a new language. With that in mind, here are the standards and what they mean:

Kiribath (Milk Rice) – Short grain rice boiled in coconut milk – usually packed and formed into a small rectangle or diamond to be served.  Often reserved for ceremonial or special occasions, but served at most hotels in their buffets with the Sri Lankan offerings.

Pittu – shaved coconut and rice flour mixed, steamed and served like rice

  Hoppers – A kind of crepe made from fermented rice flour and coconut water that is cooked in a bowl shaped pan.  Served plain with Curries or Sambols; You can also get Egg Hoppers, which have an egg cracked into the center and then cooked till firm; or Honey Hoppers made with some treacle (syrup made during the sugar refinery process) and possibly served with jaggery (cane sugar which is concentrated from date, cane juice or palm sap and served to sweeten foods, tea, or as a post meal sweet).

String Hoppers – Thin rice noodles, made from red or white rice flour and served with curries

Meat Curry – Prawns, Fish, Crab, Chicken, Beef, Mutton or Goat stewed in broth with curry leaves and spices until tender.

Potato Curry – Potatoes boiled in Coconut milk with chilies and curry leaves/spices.  SOO yummy!

(Honestly, you can make a curry out of almost ANYthing.  I roasted a pumpkin the other day and made a delicious pumpkin curry with some of it - which is a pretty popular dish here - and some green bean curry on the side.  Yum!)

Dhal – Red lentils cooked in coconut milk, curry leaves and spices.

Roti – a dense flatbread made from wheat, rice or brown millet flour and grated coconut

Kottu Roti – A dish made with roti that is cut into noodle-like strips.  It is then combined with vegetables, egg, and/or meats and then chopped feverishly with two blades on curved handles on a flat metal cooktop.  This is a common street food and is akin in flavor and presentation to fried rice, but with a texture like flat noodles.  SUPER delicious and the sound of the blades chopping Kottu is hard to miss when walking down streets with food vendors nearby.

Papadum – A thin, round, crispy kind of chip made from lentil, chickpea or rice flour and served as an accompaniment to a meal

Papadum with a variety of Sambols

Sambols – basically the condiments that accompany most Sri Lankan meals.  There are so many varieties of Sambols, but a few basic ones are Pol Sambol (made from grated coconut, chilies, dried fish, onions, garlic, curry leaves and lime juice ground together); Seeni Sambol (Carmelized onions, chilies, curry leaves, garlic, dried fish); and a variety of others made from kale, carrot, bitter gourd, and okra just to name a few.  They are usually found in small bowls, served with the meal and added as condiments of sorts.

Lamprais – A delicious kind of pocket meal, that is certainly a labor of love and an art form of sorts. Basically, it is a meal wrapped up and steamed inside a toasted banana leaf, but there are a lot of delicious pieces that have to come together for it to be complete.  First you started with a toasted banana leaf and place a small pile of savory short grain rice in the center.  Then, around the edges of the rice you make small piles of different things – usually including a mixed meat curry, a veggie, like stewed/sautéed brinjal, Frikkadels (steamed meatballs), some seeni sambol, and a spicy shrimp paste called Blachan.  You have to know the right places to find really good Lamprais.  We had some lamprais from the Dutch Burgher Union, which is apparently THE place to get it, and it was incredibly delicious.

A Sri Lankan plate will often consist of some kind of rice (either Pittu, Milk Rice, or Steamed Rice), a meat curry (unless vegetarian), potato curry or dhal, 1-2 vegetable dishes (maybe stewed lady fingers - okra, or a cold dish like a cucumber, tomato and onion salad), a few papadum, and a variety of sambols.  You might have regular Hoppers or String Hoppers with your breakfast meal instead of rice, but it generally keeps the same format.  The curries are a bit spicy, but we have yet to find a curry that we haven’t been able to handle – outside of our experience in Santa Cruz.  Actually, I can’t think of any bad Sri Lankan meals I have had since I have been here.  There have certainly been some that stand out in a positive way, but none yet that have been lackluster. 

This style of meal can be served for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.  During all the traveling we have done so far, we have found that a Sri Lankan style breakfast is always available (sometimes exclusively). Most hotels offer a breakfast buffet, which usually includes all of these standard local dishes, while also serving scrambled eggs, chicken sausages, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, lots of fruit and a variety of other options.  You could eat Sri Lankan food for all 3 meals a day if you wanted.  Ryan has traveled with the Sri Lankan military a few times and often that is exactly what he has been offered – this kind of plate, with some variations, 3 meals a day.  It should be noted that not all Sri Lankans eat rice and curry every meal of every day.  Some do, but not as a rule.  When they do have rice and curry, though, it is often for the midday meal. 

Another popular style of Sri Lankan cuisine is called Short Eats.  This is sort of Sri Lanka’s version of fast food.  We would think of these as appetizer style foods and can be served that way too.  These foods are also considered a quick bite or snack, though, meant to eat on the run.  Most bakeries, cafes and hotels have a case full of these pastry style snack foods.  In most cases you can find samosas, handpies, or flaky pastries filled with fish, chicken, beef or veggies.  These travel well and eat quickly – hence the name. 

A few interesting and important side notes to eating like a Sri Lankan concern the etiquette with which you experience a Sri Lankan meal.  

First of all, dining happens on a slightly later schedule here than we were used to when we first arrived, particularly dinner.  Most folks eat dinner quite late, usually after 7:30 or later.  We have shown up to restaurants at 6 or 6:30, sometimes even 7 and are often the only people in the place.   

Also, Sri Lankans eat Sri Lankan food with their hands.  Silverware is available and is usually on the table just about everywhere.  But the traditional way to eat Sri Lankan style food is using your hands.  Typically, you grab some rice, dosa, or (string)hopper, ball it up with the curries, veggies and sambol and pop it in your mouth.  There is a delicate, nuanced sweeping style to the hand movement, but it’s really quite easy to pick up.  I have to say, it’s liberating to be encouraged to eat with your hands – it’s what I want to do most of the time anyway, especially when the food is so delicious.  The dishes blend together, as they are meant to, and it becomes a symphony of flavors in each bite.  Because of the eating with hands, it’s important to wash your hands before and after the meal, being sure to only eat with your right hand.  

When you are finished eating, you indicate you are full by leaving a little food on your plate.  It’s polite to take small portions and definitely to have seconds or thirds, as opposed to loading your plate up the first time.  Then, a host knows you are full if you have left some food on your plate.  If you have cleaned your plate, this is an indication that you are still hungry.  

Finally, once a meal is finished and dessert and tea are served, you are expected to quickly wrap it up and head home.  If you are invited over for dinner around 7, it is often the case that you won’t actually eat the dinner for a few hours.  So don’t show up hungry!  We have local friends with kids the same age as our own and generally when we have dinner with them, we follow “normal” protocol – we invite them over, eat dinner soonish after arrival and then chit chat for a bit, wrapping it up when it seems like the kids have diverted into tired and unruly states of behavior.  But, generally in Sri Lanka, you arrive, mingle and chat, eat late, have dessert/tea and leave promptly thereafter.  The hanging out portion of a get together happens in the beginning, with very little lingering expected once the eating is finished.

Sri Lankan food is indicative of its culture - vibrant and steeped in tradition. There is care and love put into each dish as it's made.  Time is taken to simmer and stew things until they are just right.  Unlike cooking in America, where people want things fast and want their dinners ready in 30 minutes or less, cooking happens all day here. Preparations for dinner start early and carry through until the meal is served. People take their time here, there's no rush. Such it is with the food and its service.  But the food itself stands alone, unlike anything else, with its range of powerful flavors like curry and cardamom; pepper and cinnamon; turmeric, garlic and fenugreek; the spicy bite of capcacim; from creamy curd, to stewed meats, vinegary condiments, and sweet coconutty desserts.  The food is an experience for the senses - from the way the coconut oil and curries smell as the food cooks, to the bright colors on the plate, the sounds of kotthu blades or coconut spoons preparing the meal, to the feeling of the rice and curry in your fingers as you place it in your mouth and the blend of flavors on your tastebuds .  It's all delicious, handmade and representative of a beautiful and complex culture.  We have reveled in the experience of tasting each dish, so different from what we ever knew and so much better than we could have imagined.  These flavors and foods are quickly becoming an integral part of our own food language and routine.