Self published in America in April 2019.
I linked this post to June 2019 Foodies Read linkup at Based On A True Story
How I got this book:
Received a review copy via Rachel's Random Resources
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Dark roasted curry powder, a fine attention to the balance of salty-sour-sweet, wholesome red rice and toasted curry leaves, plenty of coconut milk and chili heat. These are the flavors of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka was a crossroads in the sea routes of the East. Three waves of colonization—Portuguese, Dutch and British—and the Chinese laborers who came with them, left their culinary imprint on Sri Lankan food. Sri Lankan cooking with its many vegetarian dishes gives testimony to the presence of a multi-ethnic and multi -religious population.
Everyday classics like beef smoore and Jaffna crab curry are joined by luxurious feast dishes, such as nargisi kofta and green mango curry, once served to King Kasyapa in his 5th century sky palace of Sigiriya.
Vegetable dishes include cashew curry, jackfruit curry, asparagus poriyal, tempered lentils, broccoli varai and lime-masala mushrooms. There are appetizers of chili-mango cashews, prawn lentil patties, fried mutton rolls, and ribbon tea sandwiches. Deviled chili eggs bring the heat, yet ginger-garlic chicken is mild enough for a small child. Desserts include Sir Lankan favorites: love cake, mango fluff, milk toffee and vattalappam, a richly-spiced coconut custard.
In A Feast of Serendib, Mary Anne Mohanraj introduces her mother’s cooking and her own Americanizations, providing a wonderful introduction to Sri Lankan American cooking, straightforward enough for a beginner, and nuanced enough to capture the flavor of Sri Lankan cooking.
I had never tried eating or cooking Sri Lankan cuisine before being offered this opportunity to review A Feast Of Serendib. There are similarities to Indian cookery in some of the cooking methods Mary Anne Mohanraj suggests so I wasn't completely at sea, but I also appreciated the distinctly Sri Lankan ideas and recipes I discovered in this extensive collection. I loved the clear colour photographs which helped me to understand how each each completed dish should appear, although I am still rather confused by accompaniment suggestions such as Stringhoppers and Pittu. I think I need to eat expertly made versions of these before attempting to create my own! However, the three dishes I did choose to make from A Feast Of Serendib were all resounding successes and I enjoyed my own not-so-little Sri Lankan Feast as pictured below:
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My Sri Lankan Feast! |
I particularly liked the versatility of these recipes. Different vegetables can substituted depending what is in season and the three contrasting textures of the dishes I chose made for a very satisfying meal. The techniques are simple enough for even our caravan kitchen to accommodate, yet the results were rather impressive - if I do say so myself. Thank you Mary Anne!
Meet the author
Mohanraj founded the Hugo-nominated and World Fantasy Award-winning speculative literature magazine, Strange Horizons, and also founded Jaggery, a S. Asian & S. Asian diaspora literary journal (jaggerylit.com). She received a Breaking Barriers Award from the Chicago Foundation for Women for her work in Asian American arts organizing, won an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Prose, and was Guest of Honor at WisCon. She serves as Director of two literary organizations, DesiLit (www.desilit.org) and The Speculative Literature Foundation (www.speclit.org). She serves on the futurist boards of the XPrize and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
Mohanraj is Clinical Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and lives in a creaky old Victorian in Oak Park, just outside Chicago, with her husband, their two small children, and a sweet dog. Recent publications include stories for George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series, stories at Clarkesworld, Asimov's, and Lightspeed, and an essay in Roxane Gay’s Unruly Bodies. 2017-2018 titles include Survivor (a SF/F anthology), Perennial, Invisible 3 (co-edited with Jim C. Hines), and Vegan Serendib.
Author links:
Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Serendib Kitchen
And now it's time for the Giveaway!
The prize is an ebook copy of A Feast Of Serendib.Open Internationally until the 5th July.
A Feast Of Serendib by Mary Anne Mohanraj cookery ebook giveaway
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Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Mary Anne Mohanraj / Food and cookery books / Books from Sri Lanka
I'm not familiar with Sri Lankin cuisine either but it sounds good.
ReplyDeletenever tried Sri Lankin cuisine, but will have to look into it, it looks very tasty
ReplyDeleteI love to learn about new cuisines.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with Foodies Read! It took me a while to figure out why the author's name was so familiar. I've read The Stars Change by this author. I didn't place her as a cookbook author.
ReplyDeleteAnd I only knew her a cookbook author! I'll have to check out some of her other books too :-)
DeleteI love to do new recipes
ReplyDeletei love trying new foods
ReplyDeleteMy daughter would love this thank you so much
ReplyDeleteAnthony green
Congrats to Pam who's won the A Feast Of Serendib giveaway!
ReplyDeleteIf that's not you, try your luck again! There's more giveaways to enter here
http://litflits.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html
with another two starting very soon!