Colombo's theatre of life

Colombo, Sri Lanka's clammy commercial capital, might have heavy traffic (infected with a good few daredevil tuk-tuks) and a modern metropolitan feel, but more than anything it understands the importance of community.   The family connection is strong which provides the foundation for a functioning society and prosperous country.  With a history of powerful Kings, European colonialists, civil war and some very dodgy politics, the population now finds themselves in an environment of relative calm with (potentially) very good things on the horizon.

A few days in Colombo was a great way to start in Sri Lanka.  Watching people enjoying time in their public spaces was a privilege and a joy.  No matter what your age or what your game, you're guaranteed to have a good time.  Galle Face Green is a massive strip of struggling, well-trodden grass on the coast. Surrounded by 5 star hotels and busy streets, this is the spot to see and be seen.  It's the place to play cricket or soccer, fly a kite, blow bubbles, have a picnic, go for a walk, to show off your new mobile phone and inevitably to watch the day's glorious conclusion as sky and ocean melt and then fade into darkness.

 

 

An evening stroll at the Viharamahadevi Park

Fun and games in the Viharamahadevi Park

Slave Island - just south of Colombo's Fort area, named in colonial times for fairly obvious reasons

The Gangaramaya Temple - a hugely important Buddhist site in the heart of the city

 

 

Local is lekker - Australia

The latest, from my Australian correspondents:

Brisbane

Pepe's Mexican has delicious, plentiful, Mexican fare and a buzzing atmosphere that is pretty intense.  It's a really inconspicuous place that is a real surprise.  The sizzling fajitas are highly recommended.


Port Stephens

The Deck at Soldiers Point Marina is a great, Greek, family-run restaurant with all the passion, excitement and flavours of authentic dishes.  Looking out westwards, on the Soldiers Point Marina, you get the opportunity of watching the sun set over the water, which is a rare thing on Australia's East Coast.  There is an extensive menu with portions for the very hungry, an array of Greek entrees and mains, with some Aussie favourites too.  A good mix of seafood, lamb and beef, with the ultimate Crepe Suzette to round things off.  As a family of 4, our approach over the past few years, has been to stay away from the mains and rather select a number of entrees to share - oysters, spanakopita, halloumi salad, scallops, calamari, moussaka etc.

Roasted duck legs with orange and garam masala

This is a really easy recipe that brings out the best in a few ingredients that work really well together.

Ingredients:

1. a few duck legs (depending on who you're feeding)
2. a handful of oranges
3. some garam masala
4. a little bit of duck fat
5. salt and pepper

Method:

• pat the duck skins dry, then score and rub well with salt
• leave the duck to rest for around an hour at room temperature
• get the oven heated to 160 C
• put a little duck fat into a smallish casserole dish, skin side up, then pop in the duck legs (they should just fit)
• turn the oven down to 140 C and put the duck in
• juice around 5 oranges and add to a pan
• zest 2 of these oranges and put the zest into fresh water
• with around an hour of the duck's cooking time to go, put the orange juice into a pan and bring to a simmer, this needs to be stirred and basically moved around throughout
• turn the heat down and allow to reduce by half (adding a little black pepper)
• with around 20 minutes of the cooking time to go, add zest (that you've taken out of the water) to the juice and sprinkle a little garam masala over each duck leg
• serve each duck leg smothered with a generous spoon of orange sauce

Local is lekker - Dublin, Ireland

The latest from Dublin:

Yamamori, in Great St Georges Street, is one of the few Dublin restaurants that have maintained their standards over the years. I've never been disappointed with the food, service or ambience.

There are mainly Japanese dishes with an extensive Sushi menu. It has a funky, vibrant and friendly atmosphere that is cool without being pretentious. A great spot for a dinner for 2 or for a big get together with mates.

I always go for the vegetable tempura to start and then hit the Bento Box, which gives a great variety of smaller dishes to keep the palate on it's toes. If I'm extra peckish some norimaki and sashimi will also find it's way to my table and this will be satisfyingly washed down with a Japanese craft beer or 3.

Local is lekker - Bali, Indonesia

A recent review from my correspondent in Bali:

My absolute favourite place is Teba Mega Cafe, where you can experience exceptionally fresh seafood with your feet in the sand. Candles lighting the tables, a long, beautiful beach, a fantastic seafood barbecue, and the added extra of the moon reflecting in the ocean, this place really is heavenly.  The whole menu is great but my number 1 is the 'Clams and King Prawns' in an amazing sauce.

Taste

This is a really interesting take on taste from a friend that wishes to remain anonymous.

Hunger, thirst and sex are the main drivers of human behaviour, say the psychologists, although sometimes not everyone gets the order right. In this article we will deal with only the first 2 items. The immediate question is do we live to eat or eat to live. This depends on which era in time one lives/lived. Before the hunter gatherer period, humans lived on fruit, berries, insects, water and fish if available. After hundreds of years this diet became a bit boring and those who lived to eat caste around for different taste sensations, thus enter the hunter and farmer into the picture. Raw meat did not appeal to all, however, and so the next big happening was fire, or rather how to start a fire, stack it and control it. Imagine the excitement the world's first braaivleis must have created. The new taste of grilled and charred meat must have been a revelation. Thus started the concept of the gourmet, "I will have mine not so well done, a little pink in the middle". 

As people settled down to a less nomadic life, the idea of cultivating things caught on, and the growing of wheat and it's byproducts such as flour, semolina, burghal, couscous etc. opened a whole new avenue of taste sensations. Civilization was now a short step away from producing alcohol from malt and grapes and suddenly beer and wine appeared on the table, an inevitable and toxic step in the development of refined eating. Life just got better and tastier with the use of spices and herbs in the preparation of food. With the progression of trade came the appearance of new foods, such as rice, preserved and sweet meats and spicy meat stews. The growth of towns also had a profound impact on eating as Inns and Taverns began to provide sustenance and accommodation for travellers. Wars also contributed to the diversity of food products, with the new world giving us tomatoes, chillies, chocolate, potatoes and tobacco. 

But what exactly is taste and does it vary from person to person. To answer these questions one has to look closely at the marvel of humanity, our own body. More precisely, our head, which houses 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth, each of which serving a special purpose. Firstly the eyes enable us to see the thing we're eating allowing us to decide if it's a pleasing picture, or not. More important is our sense of smell. Within the head are number of olfactory glands, situated mainly at the top of the nasal passage. Our sense of smell is so acute that it enables our brains to register and store thousands of different odours. The ability to recognise odours differs from person to person, with experts in say wine or tea being able to recognise many different smells. A university in California designed an aroma wheel to help wine tasters categorize the variety of smells. So don't be surprised when wine experts talk about aromas of oreganum, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, aniseed, fruit and red berries when assessing the bouquet of a Cabernet Franc. Moving on to the functions of the mouth, which not only grinds the food ingested, but also houses a series of tastebuds that are situated in and around the tongue, at the back of the throat and various other places which also send messages to the brain, telling it what the food tastes like. Unlike our sense of smell, the ability of describing taste sensations is limited to sweet, sour, bitter, salty and more recently umami (which is a bit like a meaty taste). 

We have come a long way in appreciating the subtleties of our senses but bear in mind that this ability is idiosyncratic and that the professional tea or wine taster has a much more developed sense of taste than most of us. This is something that can be developed by paying a little more attention to what your instincts are telling you. The French are known to be very pernickety about their food and drink which stems from an innate interest and curiosity about gastronomy. One of their best known gourmets was Curnonsky, which was a play on the words "why not", so go ahead and try it even though it's a snail. 

The moral of the story is we should all enjoy what we are eating and drinking and not feel guilty about it.

Local is lekker - Toyama, Japan

The latest from my Japanese correspondent:

My favourite restaurant in Toyama is Hamatoku, because everything is calm and soft, with the essence of Japanese beauty at a reasonable price.

The menu is full of traditional Kyoto food, with delicate flavours and appearance. You feel the changing of the seasons with both the menu and the flower arrangements. The atmosphere is one of real calm and I would call it modern Japanese.

The menu features mostly set menu's.  These vary greatly but my best is one with 6 dishes that includes, tempura, raw fish, grilled fish, steamed vegetables, and so on, plus rice and soup.