Sri Lankans think very little of their own food. They believe their own food is too hot and spicy, not interesting enough and a subset of Indian cuisine to be promoted. Thus, while the average Sri Lankan cannot make through the day without his rice and curry, he is very reluctant when it comes to serving Sri Lankan cuisine to the outsider.

Yet, it takes only a cursory glance at the ingredients that goes into making even the simplest Sri Lankan dish that Sri Lankan food is beyond being boring. Even a short visit to history is sufficient to prove that Sri Lankan food is not a subset of any country or continent, but a long story of worldwide traders, travelers and explores stopping by trading ways and wares, of adventurous Sri Lankans sailing back with exploits from far and wide and Sri Lanka literally becoming the gastronomic melting pot of Asia, fusing different cuisines without ever losing its own distinctiveness.

This has been coupled with the ancient holistic lifestyle, which depicts the food to be cooked in the healthiest possible manner. Sri Lankan gastronomy further provides perfect examples to a vast array of cooking methods and some are unique to the Islanders. Sri Lankan fare is not only determined by the international influences but also by many home factors. The strong vegetarian influence in the Sri Lankan gastronomy, for instance is due to Buddhism, wide variety of vegetation, Royal decree protecting rainforests and ancient holistic beliefs.

This same holistic lifestyle also has dictated the art of cooking Sri Lankan food and thus despite the many international influences, Sri Lankan cuisine has escaped the unhealthy habits of using artificial flavors, fragrances, coloring, sauces, animal fats or oils in its cooking, but has instead promoted the earthy flavors of ingredients that are neither overcooked not undercooked.

Until colonial influences meat was almost a forbidden pleasure, but interestingly, not fish. Fish is not even considered meat by many because of the abundant supply and the regularity in diet. The coast enjoys both fish from the sea as well as from freshwaters and thus has a different array of fish dishes to that within the country, who is privy mostly to freshwater fish. While the coast make full use of the hot beaches and direct tropical sun as natural preservative agents, those inland follow methodologies remarkably close to forest dwellers, though there is no apparent connection between the two societies.

Vegetarian, fish or meat, curries or another side accompaniment like a mallum there is an art in Sri Lankan cooking, which brings forth its richness in its wholesome ingredients and each ingredient tells a story of its own, which belies some of the misconceptions about Sri Lankan cuisine.

One of the main ingredients that make up a typical Sri Lankan menu is the wide variety of herbs that grows wildly in almost every nook and corner. These fresh herbs feature in many different ways in the Sri Lankan gastronomy.

At one time the herb kanjees were most popular breakfast components, where herbs were pounded with a fistful or so of freshly grated coconut, red onions and the liquid boiled with garlic and rice. This has now shifted as a mostly weekend breakfast element, party because the effort involved – even with the electric blenders now used – does not support the busy lifestyle of the weekday, where most leave the house without a proper breakfast and partly because the thick coconut cream sits too heavily in the stomach of the white collar worker.

The herb beverages – hot and cold – on the other hand have almost completely disappeared from the modern diet. Yet, these beverages were such an integral part of the then Sri Lankan that it was a struggle to introduce tea. Hence, despite the long and close relationship Sri Lanka had with China, tea never made it through the Sri Lankan lips until the British wanted the Sri Lankans as a market for the tea they were growing. They had to penetrate deep into the country with special lyrics extolling the benefits of tea in special caravans. With time, the off-the-shelf processed tea became the easier choice than the herbs that must be gathered and cleaned before boiling into the beverage.

These herb beverages are however making a comeback. The main reason is health than its exoticness. These herbs while abundant in variety and easily propagated, grew wildly in a selected manner. For instance the herbs that grew in hard water areas were different to the herbs in other areas and acted as a balance in accordance to the climate. Thus, the herb had natural curative properties to counteract the excesses and the deficiencies brought on by the area and climate. The Islander, who had an intimate knowledge of these different varieties of herbs and the curative properties of each, consumed these beverages not haphazardly but routinely. Moving away from this lifestyle and sticking to only tea has brought on many long term and often complex illnesses like kidney stones in many a modern Sri Lankan.