SRI LANKAN FOOD FESTIVAL

Chef Salih and his team were in Chennai to cook up fiery Sri Lankan dishes for the Chennai palate, at the Cilantro in Le Royal Meridien.  Sri Lankan cuisine is basically multi-cultural; being a mix of the native Sinhalese with influences of Indian, Portugese, Dutch and Turkish styles of cooking. Initially, it was the Sinhalese who cultivated the taste for the spices.  Spices were used only as preservatives before people started experimenting by drying them in the sun and eating them directly.  Once fire was discovered, the experimentation went a little further with the spices being tried along with other ingredients like coconut.  Around 505 BC the Portuguese came to Sri Lanka and, after them, the Dutch. Finally it was the Turkish.  The Aryan influence can also be seen today, because most of the spices originally came through India.  Present-day Sri Lankan cooking has absorbed all these influences.

Well as for the actual festival at the Cilantro, it was a relief to see the ambience not overshadowing the food. The life-like lions and 'stone' carvings made from thermocole, the colourful masks, the Sri Lankan flags and the colorful attire of the waiters made complete the festival ambience.

The Kukul Bi-Steak (Chicken) and the Malu Devilled (Fish) were succulent to bite into and not as spicy as we had expected.  About the Quick Dried Banana Flower, Beans Malluw and the Potato Stew with the Idiyappam or String Hoppers - just simply great!.  As for the ‘Live Corner’, the ‘Kothu Roti’ was hot and fantalicious.  It was so good that we decided to skip dessert to savour the taste.  The best thing is that it was not heavy on the stomach. 

For dessert the chef's recommendation was the Vattal Aapam - an exotic result from a combination of jaggery and coconut milk.  The Coconut Rock reminded us of the ubiquitous ‘burphi’ of the good old days.  The Kavum and Kokis both with a rice flour base, were also hard to beat.

The Devilled prawns had a very different taste when compared to the Goan preparation ‘Vindaloo’.  This spicy prawn dish is flavoured with chilli, a little sugar, lots of coconut powder and curry leaves, which are again an influence of Indian cooking.  ‘Ambulthiyal’ is another exotic traditional Portugese preparation from down south in Sri Lanka.  A preparation that is popular during the rainy season when the fishermen cannot go out to sea.  The fish caught in season, are marinated for three months in an earthenware dish. This helps retain the moisture.  The 'Gambog' or ‘Gorakka’ as it is locally known, is used to marinate the fish.  The 'Gorakka' is prepared by boiling ginger and garlic into a paste, which doubles up as an acid, as well as a flavouring agent.

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