Lankawe Kaeaema

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The worst thing about Sri Lankan mealtimes - apart from the occasional encounter with durian and other similarly inedible dishes - has to be the customary use of digital utensils, by which I mean the spoon that is the right hand. While normally I am completely in favor of seizing food and stuffing it haphazardly into my mouth with my palms, when curry and rice are involved, the matter is entirely different. It is impossible to look graceful when eating rice and curry, not to mention the fact that it takes twice as long.
Beyond aesthetics, of late I have come into the bad habit of developing tiny cuts on the tips and backs of my fingers. Seated at the dining room table with the family, I am more or less forced to literally rub salt in my wounds. Salt… and chilies. A particularly painful combination if I do say so myself.
Dinnertime is an exercise in more ways than one, as on top of working hard to ignore the burning sensation in the lacerations on my thumb and ring finger, there is the added battle of explaining to my family that I am, in fact, full; that I am not trying to watch my figure; and that I just might explode if they put more rice on my plate.
The price may be high, but the payoff is great. All in all Sri Lankan food is wonderful. Except for the durian. Stay away from the durian.

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