Sri Lankan Embassy Promotes “Rice & Curry”

Embassy of Sri Lanka 
Washington DC
Press Release 

SRI LANKAN EMBASSY PROMOTES COOKBOOK – ‘RICE AND CURRY’ –IN THE UNITED STATES
New volume is honored As “Notable” by  The New York Times

WASHINGTON – Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya joined Washington-area guests last week to celebrate the release of Rice and Curry, a new cookbook by Sarath Fernando, a Sri Lankan-American author who has worked to popularize Sri Lankan cuisine in the United States.

The cookbook, which includes 208 pages of traditional Sri Lankan recipes, from patties and cutlets to shrimp and crab curries to fruit dishes and puddings, was recently honored in The New York Times 2011 List Of Notable Cookbooks as part of the Times’ Holiday Gift Guide (http://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2011/categories.html ).

Rice and Curry is not just a cookbook, but an abbreviated encyclopedia of Sri Lankan cuisine, with sections that explain the island nation’s abundant spices, a trip to a Sri Lankan market and even a short profile of Leela, an ever-present cook who made traditional dishes in Fernando’s household as a boy in Sri Lanka.

Fernando attended Harvard and Colombia Universities, and today lives in Baltimore, but travels frequently, including many trips back to Sri Lanka. His cookbook fuses both worlds, updating old-time recipes that call for exotic Sri Lankan ingredients with staples found in the United States. He spent part of the evening signing books and the rest describing Sri Lankan cuisine.

“As a young boy I would watch my mother cooking in the kitchen and wonder what she was doing and how she was making the meal,” Fernando told the crowd of over 100 guests. “And when she left the kitchen I would climb up into the cupboard and put my finger in all the spice jars to try them. I think that’s when I became interested in this food.”

Fernando’s talk was followed by a cooking demonstration by the ambassador’s chef, who made hoppers and egg hoppers for guests. Afterward, a spicy Sri Lankan buffet of rice, fish, chicken and eggplant curries and desserts was offered. The spicy aroma of the evening filled the ambassador’s residence, transporting some of the guests back to Sri Lanka and temping other to visit.

Fernando became a well-known expert on Sri Lankan cuisine when he accompanied Anthony Bourdain, host of the popular U.S. food and travel show, “No Reservations” to Sri Lanka in 2008. The pair visited several popular restaurants and also some out-of-the-way haunts in their quest for spices and traditional Sri Lankan cuisine.

Today, Fernando runs his Rice and Curry blog and markets spices (https://riceandcurry.wordpress.com/about/ )
Fernando’s book launch in one in a series of events that Ambassador Wickramasuriya has hosted to promote Sri Lankan culture, cuisine, trade and tourism. The Rice and Curry event included a number of American food writers, as well as diplomats and Washington professionals.

The ambassador has scheduled a second annual “Signature Tour” for 2012. During the first tour, he took 25 Washington-area professionals to Sri Lanka for a 10-day visit.

“Rice and Curry, Sri Lankan Home Cooking” is published by Hippocrene Books, Inc. (www.Hippocrenebooks.com).

Photo 1: Author Sarath Fernando, a Sri Lankan-American, signing books at the launch of his new cookbook: Rice and Curry, Sri Lankan Home Cooking.

Photo 2: A Sri Lankan chef demonstrates for preparation of hoppers at the Sri Lankan residence, Washington, D.C.

Photo 3: Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States, and his daughter Sarindee (background) chat with Sofia Blake, who is married to Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, and daughter Zara Blake, foreground. The Blakes, who lived in Sri Lanka when Robert Blake served as U.S. ambassador there, were attending the party to celebrate the publication of Rice and Curry, Sri Lankan Home Cooking.

Photo 4: Ambassador Wickramsuriya (second from right), chats with David Toussaint, whose late father, Donald Toussaint, was U.S. Ambassador in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 1982. With them are Thanuja Usliyanage, (second from left), the Sri Lankan Embassy’s political officer, and Sarindee Wickramasuriya, the ambassador’s daughter, during the Rice and Curry book party.