Indigenous and traditional foods of Sri Lanka
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Journal of Ethnic Foods
REVIEW ARTICLE
Open Access
Indigenous and traditional foods of Sri Lanka Sachithra Mihiranie1, Jagath K. Jayasinghe1*, Chamila V. L. Jayasinghe2 and Janitha P. D. Wanasundara3*
Abstract Indigenous and traditional foods of Sri Lanka inherit a long history and unique traditions continued from several thousands of years. Sri Lankan food tradition is strongly inter-wound with the nutritional, health-related, and therapeutic reasoning of the food ingredients and the methods of preparation. The diverse culinary traditions and preparations reflect multipurpose objectives combining in-depth knowledge of flora and fauna in relation to human well-being and therapeutic health benefits. Trans-generational knowledge dissemination related to indigenous and traditional food is now limited due to changing lifestyles, dwindling number of knowledge holders, and shrinking floral and faunal resources. Awareness on the relationship between non-communicable diseases and the diet has garnered the focus on traditional ingredients and foods by the consumers and major food producers in Sri Lanka. This review presents concise details on the indigenous and traditional foods of Sri Lanka, with scientific analysis when possible. Keywords: Ethnic foods, Traditional ingredients, Food preservation, Food preparation, Health benefits, Sri Lanka
Introduction Indigenous and traditional foods of Sri Lanka present a perfect blend of cultural diversity with human wisdom that has been evolved through generations in establishing a cultural heritage and an identity. In the Sri Lankan culture, food is treated with the highest gratitude, respect, and generosity, expressed by sharing and offering to fellow humans, animals as well as the divine powers. Sri Lankans love to share foods with neighbors, family, and friends; house visits are always accompanied with bundles of food items. Some foods and the preparation know-how are specialties of the locality. Transgenerational knowledge transmission of food and food ingredients is inter-woven with regular maintenance of * Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] Common names of foods and ingredients provided in parenthesis and in italics are Sinhala language names unless otherwise the Latin name of the organism/plant. 1 Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka 3 Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0X2, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
healthy life, cultural legacy, and religious concepts of the ethnicities of the land and have been the key to sustain a traditional food culture in Sri Lanka; evidence are found in written literal work and archeological sources as well as folklore. Archeological findings, ancient travelers’ records, and early world maps are living evidence for the significance of this island in geo-politics and sea trade since ancient times. Elem
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