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The beautiful southern shores of Sri
Lanka is the home of the famous stilt fishermen. Wooden poles are wedged into rock crevices to use as a perch
while fishing.
Fishermen from the picturesque Muslim
fishing village of Sainthamaruthu in the Ampara District are now ready to head out to sea
again.
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"The fruits of land
and sea plentiful and sitting down to a Sri Lankan meal is a truly
fantastic epicurean adventure"
. . traveler to Sri
Lanka |
Sri Lanka
COURSING THROUGH THE CUISINE OF
SRI LANKA IS A GREAT OBSERVANCE TO DETAILS
AND TRADITION. IT TRULY IS LIKE
TASTING HISTORY.
SRI LANKAN FARE IS OFTEN
MISTAKEN FOR YET ANOTHER INDIAN REGIONAL CUISINE. TO THE CULINARY
EXPLORER, SRI LANKAN FOOD IS AS INTRIGUING AND UNIQUE AS THE MANY OTHER
CUSTOMS OF THIS ISLAND PARADISE.
BACKGROUND
The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in about the mid-3rd century B.C. and a great civilization developed at such cities as Anuradhapura (kingdom from c. 200 B.C. to c. 1000 A.D.) and Polonnaruwa (c. 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established a Tamil kingdom. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796 and became a crown colony in 1802. As Ceylon it became independent in 1948; its name was changed in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to fester.
ECONOMY
In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-2000 with average growth of 5.3%. But 2001 saw the first contraction in the country's history, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife.
AFTER THE TSUNAMI ... a year later
The stunning sunsets of this beautiful teardrop-shaped island nation,
once said to be created by God in order to balance the imperfections of the world, bore witness to
the lost of 40,000 of its people when the unstoppable waves of the Asian tsunami struck its
eastern shores on 26th December, 2004. Despite being fearful of the ocean, many have no choice
but to continue turning to the sea to sustain their lives.
Along the coastline from Batticaloa to the Arupara district, through to Arugam
Bay, Sri Lanka's backpackers' and surfers' paradise with a laid back charm, little was spared. The Ampara district is
the worst hit area on the island with over 10,000 death. A year later, the dolphins are again frolicking in the waters of Arugam
Bay in the east coast and the tourist-related businesses are picking up the pieces shattered by the
tsunami.
Look closer, and the downcast faces of the fishermen tells a different story. The killer
waves of December 26th, 2004 has changed the tides in a way they couldn't understand. These simple
fishermen who used to earned up to Rs300 a day, catching up to 200 sardines, butterfish and
coral fish, now has to look for alternative ways to supplement their dwindling income by making
curry paste to sell in restaurants in Galle for Rs120 (a little less than US1) per kg. or posing for
photographs for foreign visitors for a little handout.
Signs of poverty and destruction are everywhere. Thousands are still
living in camps where homes is in tents and transitional homes of barracks of crude wooden huts.
Re-housing programs are difficult to implement due to lack of land as whole villages were swept
away. A government-ordered 'No-Built' buffer zone of 100 to 200 meters from the beaches has created
additional confusion.
As one travels southwards and to the western portion, the roads become
smoother and dusty lanes gave way to tarred ones and the pastoral landscape changed into one of
glorious beaches of slender coconut trees. There is resentment underneath the seeming calmness as
people feel development has been for more efficient in the Singhalese western coast. In historic
Galle, there are many construction projects but hardly any on the eastern coast. One cannot help but
question why one don't see more rebuilding here. The people are just wasting away in camps with no
work and livelihoods.
Although so much sadness and tragedy lie amidst this beautiful island,
the people have great expectations of what the future holds. International hoteliers are optimistic
that tourism will pick up. Signs of optimism can be seen in the massive construction project of The
Fortress hotel, along the pristine Koggala beach. Sri Lanka as a destination offers a very diverse
leisure product, with places of tourist importance like the hill country of Kandy, the cultural
centers like Anuradhapura and the many popular beaches. It will always remain a
lure because of its charming combination of pristine beaches, friendly people, a
preserved culture and colonial architecture. There is no reason for travelers
not to return and there is hope that the new year will bring
with it more opportunities and restored homes for its people.
THE SRI LANKAN TABLE
Breakfast in Sri Lanka is often a batter of
rice flour cooked in special hemispherical pans to make appa or
hoppers. These are small, bowl-shaped pancakes with a soft, bready center
and crisp brown edges that goes well with treacle and buffalo-milk
yoghurt. Crack an egg in the middle of the hopper before turning the pan
results in an egg hopper; these goes best with thick, highly spiced
sambol. Another rice batter dish called the "string hopper" is quite
different. These are tangled little circles of steamed noodles usually
served with a hodhi or thin curry sauce.
Sri Lankans lunch between noon and two,
usually with a plate of 'short eats'. These divide equally between crisply
baked filo-dough biscuits and frikadels or deep-fried rolls or
balls. The interiors are filled with meat, fish or vegetables. Short eats
are joined by vadai, or deep-fried donuts of lentils, spices and
flour. Another common snack is roti, a square or triangular wrap of
dough stuffed with chilies, onions, vegetables and cooked eggs, meat or
fish. These are then pan fried on a searing sheet-metal griddle over a
propane burner. Many prefer rice-n-curry lunch packet. Inside a banana
leaf or thin plastic wrap is a cup or two of boiled rice, a piece of
curried chicken, fish or beef for non-vegetarians.
A proper rice and curry dinner involves
three or more accompaniments with at least two of them vegetables. When
choosing which curry to serve with the rice, Sri Lankan cooks ensure that
there is a variety of texture and flavors with al least one fairly liquid
or soupy curry to help moisten the rice. There is usually another
curry that is relatively dry with thick curry sauce. One other curry,
mostly lightly, is going to be a spiced lentil dish. There is sure to be
at least one pungent side dish or condiment known as sambol. These
sambols are commonly known as 'rice pullers'. They are guaranteed
to whet the appetite with their basic ingredient - anything from onions to
bitter gourds, dried shrimps to salted limes - heightened by the
flavors of chilies, onions, salt and fish meat from the Maldives. A
favorite sambol, called pol sambol, is made from
freshly grated coconut.
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