Society

From Malay Pickle to Mulligatawny The Taste of Harmony

MISHKA FERNANDO AND SHAKYA MEDAGEDARA

Food as the unifying ingredient in the multicultural, multilingual and multi religious island of Sri Lanka

From Malay Pickle to Mulligatawny, food has been the one unifying ingredient in the multicultural, multilingual and multi religious island of Sri Lanka. It boasts and burps of dishes that blurred its divisive lines to a communal hub of street-food joints, snack shops and coastal cuisines. This story captures the everyday interactions of people from all walks of life, with the aim to show that if there can be comfort when it comes to food, why can’t it broaden to all other interactions?

From the road across the church spire to the fishermen by the sea. We all enjoy a good cup of tea.From vadais at vegetarian kadeys, to fancy boutique hotel kitchen dosais.From the shrines side by side in each market place you go toYou’d buy from them alike, be it Christian, Buddhist or HinduWe are constantly mingling freely with people of different races and faiths.The question is why does this easy comfort disappear when it doesn’t involve food on your plates?


The Taste of Harmony
by Mishka Fernando & Shakya Medagedara for www.thecatamaran.org
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This article was originally published on the catamaran.com

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Sri Lanka Press Institute.

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