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Colonial Tastes

Portuguese, Dutch and British influences and the creation of a Burgher culture

British colonials celebrate the end of World War II with a victory dinner in Colombo.

The wave of Western expansionism which began at the end of the fifteenth century, when the Portuguese first rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached the west coast of India, was to have a significant impact on Sri Lanka. Over the next four centuries, colonialism affected not only the agriculture, social structure and religions of the country, but also the cuisine.

In fact, it was cuisine that attracted the Portuguese in the first place, or to be more precise, spices. With refrigeration and modern methods of food preservation, it is difficult today to imagine how vital and valuable spices were several centuries ago. They were used to help preserve food and also to mask the flavours of food that might not necessarily be in prime condition. Many spices have medicinal properties and some were believed to ward off the plagues that frequently swept through Europe.

The trade in spices—particularly pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom—was then controlled by Arab merchants, who obtained the spices in various parts of Asia and then sold them to Venetian merchants at exorbitant prices. The search for the source of these valuable spices prompted the Portuguese to set out on their voyages of exploration. Not only did they intend to cut out the Arab middlemen, they were also filled with missionary zeal, intent on obtaining Christian converts.

By the early 1600s, the Portuguese had gained control of the southwest coast of Sri Lanka (which they called Zeilan) and had converted some of the Sinhalese royalty to Catholicism. The island was an important source of revenue, thanks to its spices (particularly cinnamon), and was also an ideal place

for Portuguese vessels to take on supplies in their voyages between their colonies of Goa and Malacca.

The Portuguese introduced a number of plants they had discovered in the Americas, the most important being chilli, as well as corn, tomatoes and guavas. It is hard to imagine Sri Lankan cuisine without chilli, but prior to the introduction of this taste-tingling plant, all Asians had to rely on pepper for heat. The Portuguese impact on the cuisine of Sri Lanka has lasted until today, but almost exclusively in the area of rich cakes: bolo de coco (a coconut cake), foguete (deep-fried pastry tubes with a sweet filling) and bolo folhadao (a layered cake) are all a legacy of the Portuguese.

By the end of the seventeenth century, the people of Sri Lanka were desperate to oust the Portuguese; they promised the Dutch the monopoly of the rich spice trade if they could get rid of these foreigners who “never took pains to find out what the local laws and customs were.”

However, it proved to be a matter of exchanging one colonial master for another, as the Dutch pushed the Portuguese out and then extended their control over most of the island, except for Kandy, which remained an independent Sinhalese kingdom.

The Dutch—who controlled most of the islands in the Dutch East Indies and who had followed the Portuguese as rulers of -Malacca—brought in a number of Malays to Sri Lanka (there was even a Malay regiment). They also introduced several fruits indigenous to the Malay peninsula, including rambutan, mangosteen and durian, as well as Malay names for certain dishes, including spicy condiments (sambol) and pickles (achchar).

Like the Portuguese, the Dutch left a number of cakes to become part of the culinary legacy of Sri Lanka and particularly of the Burgher community, including breudher, a rich cake made with yeast.

Labourers at a spice plantation peel cinnamon bark on the verandah of the factory in 1900.

Dutch meatballs or frikadel, appear as part of a cross-cultural dish served on special occasions in many Sri Lankan homes. Lampries (a corruption of the Dutch lomprijst) combines these meatballs with a typically Sinhalese curry made with four types of meat and a tangy sambol, all wrapped up in a piece of banana leaf and steamed.

Another Dutch recipe, smore or sliced braised beef, has evolved over the years into a version that would not be recognised in Holland, with the meat simmered in spiced coconut milk accented with tamarind juice.

By the end of the eighteenth century, the British, with their superior naval force, had started to push the Dutch out of the island they called Ceylon. However, it took almost another two decades until they managed to topple the independent kingdom of Kandy and to exert control over the entire island.

The British had by far the greatest impact of any of the colonial rulers. They abolished most of the discriminatory regulations and monopolies established by the Dutch and brought about a significant change in the island’s economy. By the mid-1800s, coffee—planted in the hill country in the interior—had replaced cinnamon as the island’s most valuable crop. However, a blight virtually wiped out the coffee plantations in the late 1870s.

Tea seedlings had been imported from China in 1824 and from Assam in 1839, and the first tea estates were established by 1867—just in time to take over in importance after the failure of the coffee crop. The import of large numbers of southern Indian Tamils to work on the coffee and tea estates was another move to have a significant impact on the shape of the country.

Inevitably, as there had been intermarriage between the Portuguese and Dutch and local woman, so too was there intermarriage with the British. However, one observer remarked, in the late 1870s, that the “English, Scotch or German mechanical engineer, road officer or locomotive foreman generally marries the native burgher female with whom he associates; the civil servant, merchant, planter and army officer only keeps her.”

The children of these marriages became known, during the Dutch period, as Burghers or “town dwellers.” This term was also used for people of Portuguese descent, and later, for those who had British blood. Christian converts were able to escape the social distinctions of the traditional caste system and the Burghers became a privileged minority. Their fluency in Dutch and later in English, ensured they found work in various government departments and even as lawyers.

The British influence on Burgher food seems to be limited to the way meals are served. In many Burgher homes, lunch is the universal “curry and rice.” However, the evening meal is often served British style, in what is called a “course” dinner. This usually begins with a soup and might be followed by a spiced meat stew, potatoes or bread and vegetables. Many of these dishes are based on Dutch or British recipes, but with sufficient spices and seasonings added to please the palates of those accustomed to more flavourful Sinhalese food.

— Wendy Hutton

Burghers, other wealthy locals and Europeans enjoy an evening at the Orient Club in the early twentieth century.