HOME TURF

London-based chef and author Cynthia Shanmugalingam takes us on a culinary journey through the stories and memories of her family to decipher the rich oral tradition of Sri Lankan cooking

- Cynthia Shanmugalingam

Like all the great cooks from Sri Lanka, they tend to prod, sniff, shake and listen to their ingredients with the kind of concerned familiarity of a chiropractor. They seem to have been born knowing just what fruit, vegetable, fish, meat, spices, and rice to buy, when everything is in season, and how to turn it all into the wonderful Sri Lankan fare that they eat every day.

Unlike them, I have had to learn a different way. When my parents left the island in the 1960s to live in England, they didn't know that on the flight, thousands of years of culinary knowledge would be evaporated into thin air. Alongside my brother and sister, I could never quite pick up everything they knew 'back home', no matter how many withering looks my father gives me when he asks me to go over to that vendor to pick out a pumpkin, and I return with a shit one. And yet, I have learned how to make Sri Lankan food that is both exciting and rewarding, and I know that by the end of this book, you will too.

Rambutan is the story of an immigrant kid in England trying to cook her way out of the profound sense of loss about the place her parents called home. It contains the best recipes from my mum, grandmother, and all the other generous aunties and friends who gave them to me, sometimes modified a little to make them easier, or because they seemed more fun that way, but always retaining the ancient spirit of Sri Lankan cuisine.