Gastronomy in Sri Lanka

Part of the adventure when traveling to other places, is trying out foods native to that place. I don’t think the saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” would be appropriate in Sri Lanka. Not intending to give it a negative connotation but, simply, it just means that spicy foods may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Sri Lanka and South India generally share the same recipe but Sri Lankan recipes are hotter and chillier. The archetype of Sri Lankan foods consist mostly of spicy curries, steamed or boiled rice, and the meat which could either be fish, chicken, mutton, beef or pork.

The Kiribath should also not be missed. Kiribath or milk rice is typically served at breakfast during the first days of the months. Other must-taste foods are the hoppers. Hoppers are called apam by the natives. Hoppers are like ordinary pancakes but have a spicy twist to it because it is eaten with lunumiris, a salsa like preparation consisting mostly of onions, red chillies and Maldive fish. There are many types of hoppers to choose from, there are plain hoppers, egg hoppers, milk hoppers, honey hoppers and sting hoppers. Sri Lankan cuisine is not all about curry, rice and lunumiris. Sri Lankans also are fond of sweets. After whetting their taste buds with hot and spicy foods, deserts like Wattalapan, Halape, Thalaguli and Kavun are readily available.

For spicy food lovers, Sri Lanka should be a paradise. However, for those with low tolerance for spicy foods, Sri Lanka offers no safe refuge because even McDonalds are selling spicy burgers.