Tea with Tooting Mama discovering heritage and culture through Sri Lankan food – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this podcast episode, I interview Tasha Marikkar about her new cookbook, Jayaflava, which dives into the rich and diverse world of Sri Lankan cuisine. 

I loved talking to Tasha who shares her passion for Sri Lanka food, our legendary aunties of Sri Lankan cooking and the unique blend of heritage, ethnicity, and religion that is reflected in Sri Lankan food.

Tasha tells me how she selected 80 recipes out of 200, shares her favorite places to eat in Sri Lanka and the UK, discusses the cultural significance of dishes like ribbon cake and how Felix Buxton of the band Basement Jaxx helped inspire the cookbook’s title: Jayaflava.

Tasha also hints at an upcoming TV series that will further explore Sri Lankan culinary traditions.

00:00 Introduction to Tasha Marrikar and her cookbook

00:31 A deep dive into into Sri Lankan cuisine

01:30 Tasha's background and family heritage

03:14 Exploring the diversity of Sri Lankan food

05:30 The journey of writing Jayaflava

10:48 Choosing Jayaflava’s rockstar recipes

21:14 Fusion recipes

23:48 Tasha's dinner party and restaurant recommedations

28:01 Upcoming projects and where to buy Jayaflava

You can buy Jayaflava here.

Tasha’s favourite restaurants in Sri Lanka and the UK

Sri Lanka 

* Gini

* Ministry of Crab

* Renuka City Hotel

* Smoke and Bitters

London

* Hoppers

* Jaffna House 

* Rambutan

* Paradise Soho

Grab my free guide to Sri Lankan cooking, join the Tooting Mama community by signing up for my weekly newsletter here. 

Find my recipes here. 

Check out my Instagram here

Never miss a single episode by subscribing to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify and tell your friends about Tea with Tooting Mama and my Stubstack Tooting Mama 

Why not take a screenshot of the podcast and post it on your  Instagram stories and let’s spread the word about this podcast and the fantastic stores we have to share within the Sri Lankan community.

Sarah Baldwin is the founder of Serendip

It’s a business inspired by Sarah’s love of travel, and a childhood spent living in several different countries including Sri Lanka. 

The ethos of Sarah's business is to source artisan products that are handmade in Sri Lanka - and you’ll hear about the efforts Sarah goes to, to track down true artisan makers.

In our conversation we talk about the brands Sarah has sourced and how as a child she became accustomed to living in different cultures and getting used to different foods.

Sarah will give you her recommendations for restaurants in Sri Lanka and here in the UK.

Go grab your tea and settle in as I talk to Sara about her childhood, her business, Sri Lanka and most importantly food.

Serendip

The Kandy Esala Perahera

Rice and Carry

Barefoot

Hop & Roll

Little Sambol

Everest Curry King

Rambutan

Empire Cafe, Kandy

In this South Asian Heritage Month edition of Tea with Tooting Mama, I’m talking to Krisha Puwanarajah, the co-founder of MUVs ALL DAY. Originally MUVs started out as curries delivered to customers in jars, then became a cult supper club. Krish is now on her journey to transform MUVs. 

We discuss why Krish started a food business, how she used food and stories to connect people to her Sri Lankan culture and her heritage recipe. 

We talk about how working in Sri Lankan food has freed her to be herself. 

Grab your cuppa and tune into this podcast. 

This mini-edition of Tea with Tooting Mama is supported by Hera Project X Sri Lanka and Wandsworth Council.

* MUVs ALL Day photo story

* MUVs ALL DAY

Grab my free guide to Sri Lankan cooking, join the Tooting Mama community by signing up for my weekly newsletter here. 

Find my recipes here. 

Check out my Instagram here

Never miss a single episode by subscribing to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify and tell your friends about Tea with Tooting Mama and my Stubstack Tooting Mama 

Why not take a screenshot of the podcast and post it on your  Instagram stories and let’s spread the word about this podcast and the fantastic stores we have to share within the Sri Lankan community.

Tooting Mama is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In this South Asian Heritage Month edition of Tea with Tooting Mama, I’m talking to Thana Sivasambu, the founder of Ruci Foods. You may remember Thana from a previous episode of Tea with Tooting Mama.

We discuss Thana's motivation for starting a food business, how she uses food to connect people to Sri Lankan culture and her heritage recipe. A recipe she loves and one she would want to pass on. 

Free to be me is the theme for this year’s South Asian Heritage Month. We talk about how working in Sri Lankan food has freed her to be herself. Thana’s response might surprise you! 

Grab your cup of tea and tune into this podcast.

This mini-edition of Tea with Tooting Mama is supported by Hera Project X Sri Lanka and Wandsworth Council.

* Rebuilding Sri Lanka with chutneys, pickles and sambols

* Ruci Foods

* Thana’s heritage recipe

Grab my free guide to Sri Lankan cooking, join the Tooting Mama community by signing up for my weekly newsletter here. 

Find my recipes here. 

Check out my Instagram here

Never miss a single episode by subscribing to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify and tell your friends about Tea with Tooting Mama and my Stubstack Tooting Mama 

Why not take a screenshot of the podcast and post it on your  Instagram stories and let’s spread the word about this podcast and the fantastic stores we have to share within the Sri Lankan community.

Tooting Mama is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

South Asian Heritage Month seeks to raise the profile and help people understand the richness and diversity of South Asian culture in Britain today. 

The 2024 celebrations focus on the theme, free to be me.

For this special edition of Tea with Tooting Mama I’m talking to the women behind the Sri Lankan Culture Collective: Rosh Olivelle, Thana Samasambu and Krish Puwanarajah.

It’s a platform to showcase modern Sri Lankan culture and identity in the UK.

You’re going to hear from Rosh Olivelle, the founder of Hop and Roll. 

Rosh sells hopper making kits which allows customers to make Sri Lanka’s iconic dish at home. As well as this, Rosh runs hopper making classes and caters for events. And she has just gone on to win a Great Taste Award for her Sri Lankan roasted curry powder.

As you will see Sri Lankan food is a big part of Sri Lankan culture. 

Making food central to our lives has helped Rosh, Thana and Krish be free to be themselves. 

Join me as I dig deeper into their stories, their Sri Lankan heritage and identity, and find out why food plays such an important role in their lives.

Hop & Roll

Hop & Roll Instagram

Buy Hop & Roll Hopper kits

South Asian Heritage Month

Sri Lankan Culture Collective Boutique Festival

Grab my free guide to Sri Lankan cooking, join the Tooting Mama community by signing up for my weekly newsletter here. 

Find my recipes here. 

Check out my Instagram here

Never miss a single episode by subscribing to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify and tell your friends about Tea with Tooting Mama and my Stubstack Tooting Mama 

Why not take a screenshot of the podcast and post it on your  Instagram stories and let’s spread the word about this podcast and the fantastic stores we have to share within the Sri Lankan community.

Tooting Mama is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Shownotes

Ruci Foods

Paradise Soho

Rambutan

MUVS ALLDAY

Larry Jeyasekara

In this episode of Tea with Tooting Mama, I am joined by Dee Gibson, a highly sought-after British Sri Lankan interior designer. 

We talked about a pivotal holiday in Sri Lanka that changed her life resulting in Dee becoming a hotelier through the creation of her boutique hotel, Kalukanda House, which has been featured in HIP Hotels and Conde Nast Traveller. 

Kalulanda House is more than just a hotel. It has become the foundation to start a new conversation to shift the narrative of Sri Lanka. 

Her new initiative, HERA Project X, is a curated programme of events, retreats, and cultural exchange to champion women’s creativity and entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka and the global diaspora. 

Dee is looking out for like minded retreat leaders with impact who can offer enticing options and are able to provide reciprocal scholarship places to local HERA Project X beneficiaries. 

During our conversation Dee revealed her favourite Sri Lankan restaurant in London and the way she has weaved Sri Lankan food into her bicultural family’s lives.

Shownotes:

* Discover Kalukanda House and HERA Project X in HIP Hotel and  Conde Nast Traveller

* Find out more about Dee’s successful interior design practice Velvet Orange 

* The restaurants we discussed: Kolamba restaurant, Jaffna House, MUVS ALLDAY

Tooting Mama is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I just want to say a big thank you to Dee who, over the last few months, has been gently prodding me to get this podcast off the ground.

Whether you are building a hotel or launching your podcast:

You just got to start!

Dee Gibson, Founder of Kalukanda House and HERA Project X

Grab my free guide to Sri Lankan cooking, join the Tooting Mama community by signing up for my weekly newsletter here. 

Find my recipes here. 

Check out my Instagram here

Never miss a single episode by subscribing to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify and tell your friends about Tea with Tooting Mama and my Stubstack Tooting Mama 

Why not take a screenshot of the podcast and post it on your  Instagram stories and let’s spread the word about this podcast and the fantastic stores we have to share within the Sri Lankan community.

In this episode, I talk to Mahesha Rice, a Reiki master and EFT practitioner, to unravel her incredible journey from a happy childhood in Sri Lanka to a new life in France. 

At the age of six, Mahesha made a life-changing decision that led to her adoption by an aunt in France.  She faced many challenges, including language barriers, cultural differences. Mahesha's story is a profound testament to resilience and determination. 

Mahesa was incredibly brave opening up to me about her life story, and I really wanted to hold space for Mahesha as we talked about her past. 

Throughout our conversation, Mahesha shares candid memories of her childhood, the difficulties of feeling isolated, the abuse she faced and the ways in which she found hope and inner strength through building a network of friends who supported her..

Mahesha’s story is one of resilience, determination, and searching for hope when  you think there is none, and finding the light.

The episode also touches on her passion for Sri Lankan cuisine, highlighted by her cookbook on simple Sri Lankan recipes. 

As a trigger warning, this episode includes discussions about abuse. 

Join us for an inspiring story of hope, healing, and finding light in the darkest of times.

00:00 Introduction to Mahisha Rice

01:23 Early life in Sri Lanka

02:55 The decision to move to France

06:20 Adjusting to a new life

12:02 Building resilience and finding support

20:04 Healing and embracing therapy

30:30 Writing and cooking 

34:45 Future plans and final thoughts

Tooting Mama Substack

Mahesha Rice website

Reiki and EFT Tapping   

Mahesha’s cookbook

Mahesha’s restaurant recommendations

Colombo 16

Moonstone

Baobab: How Jollof Rice and Biryani are building a new Sri Lankan-West African fusion lifestyle brand 

Zaynab Zubair, or Zee, grew up in the foothills of Kandy in Sri Lanka, which prepared her for life in Devon, by way of Bahrain and Australia.

This global childhood has left its mark on Zee's life and its found its way into her relationship, her family, the book she's writing, and Baobab, the brand she's launching with her Gambian husband.

I talked to Zee about her soon-to-be-published novel, Finding Serendipity, which was started during lockdown. The novel began to take shape once Zee had met her husband. The Sri Lankan and West African voice is an integral part of the novel, and we view this through the eyes of the main protagonists.

Zee used food, in particular, jollof rice and biryani, to help her characters explore their culture and identity as people growing up far from their homeland. This draws from Zee’s own life experiences. The fusion of West African and Sri Lankan cultures and identities continues to leave its mark on Z's life.

We talk about Zee's dual heritage relationship and family, and how, by fusing their cultures, Zee and her husband launched Baobab, which expresses Sri Lankan and West African culture through food, fashion, events, and wellness. 

Because I recorded this episode in the evening, and even though I told everyone to be quiet, my son gets a little overexcited during his PlayStation gaming session - apologies for that! 

Go grab your cuppa, and settle in as I chat to Zee.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction

00:47 Childhood and Cultural Identity

05:26 Writing 'Finding Serendipity'

08:18 Food and Cultural Fusion

11:46 Sri Lankan Literature Recommendations

16:52 Pilgrimage to The Gambia and Sri Lanka

21:52 Exploring the Ga Literary Festival

24:03 The Fusion Brand: Boabab

24:28 The Mission of Boabab

28:11 The Supper Club Experience

30:14 Perfect Dinner Party Menu

33:51 Favourite Sri Lankan and West African Restaurants and Future Plans

Finding Serendipity

Baobab 

Diet Paratha 

Usha Jey

Zee’s restaurant picks

Sri Lankan restaurants

Kolamba

Rambutan 

Machan Kitchen

West African Restaurants 

Monica’s Restaurant, Deptford

Papa L’s Kitchen

Zee’s guide to getting started with Sri Lankan literature 

Ameena Hussein 

Ashok Ferry 

Carl Muller 

Nayomi Munaweera

Saraid de Silva

Shehan Karunatilaka

Shyam Selvadurai

Sonali Deraniyagala 

V. V. Ganeshananthan 

In this episode of Tea with Tooting Mama, I’m talking to Laura Hicks about her remarkable life story, starting at age 17 with her battle against a rare form of bone cancer. She discusses how her illness led to a deep passion for cooking, taking part in MasterChef. 

Laura is a dual heritage British Sri Lankan. We talk about how this affected her growing up, how she brought Sri Lankan food to Masterchef, and how this experience led her to a career in food and reconnecting with her Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher heritage. Laura has done a lot to showcase Sri Lankan food on mainstream TV, but this wasn’t without controversy as trolls questioned her right to identify herself as Sri Lankan.

Laura highlights the influence of her family's hundred-year-old cookbook, created by four generations of women, the challenges of balancing motherhood with her restaurant career, and how she hopes to publish her family’s cookbook. 

At the time of recording, Laura was pregnant with her third child. I’m delighted to say Laura has since given birth to her gorgeous son, Billy Hynes.

00:00 Introduction and Early Life

00:18 Battling Cancer at 17

00:54 Chemotherapy and Its Aftermath

01:27 Discovering a Love for Food

03:16 Journey to MasterChef

04:04 MasterChef Experience

06:57 Sri Lankan Heritage and Family

09:06 Identity and Cultural Challenges

12:31 The Hundred-Year-Old Cookbook

13:23 Exploring the Family Cookbook

13:51 Generational Cooking Stories

14:12 Diverse Culinary Heritage

15:27 MasterChef and Culinary Career

16:10 Supper Clubs and Popups

19:40 Balancing Family and Career

21:50 Favourite Sri Lankan Dishes

24:52 Nostalgic Restaurant Memories

25:58 Future Plans and Aspirations

Laura Hicks Instagram

The Scrandit

The Kandyan, Bristol

Beach Wadiya

Grab my free guide to Sri Lankan cooking, and join the Tooting Mama community by signing up for my weekly newsletter here.

Find my recipes here.

Check out my Instagram here

Never miss a single episode by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and tell your friends about Tea with Tooting Mama and my Stubstack Tooting Mama.