The universal consideration of the “limits of growth” in a development context, and the paradox of inequity, poverty and loss of a harmonious living environment, focused the global community on alternate pathways, which include ingredients of traditional wisdom. Modern Sri Lanka awakened to this reality more than 25 years ago.

When ancient communities systematically organised their water reservoirs and irrigation channels to cultivate lands, they were skillfully managing resources and conserving the living environment for posterity. When farmers cultivated different varieties of rice, recognizing their specific qualities on food value, palatability, cooking properties and medicinal value, they were not only sustainably drawing on the gifts of nature, but were also conserving a priceless biological diversity.  When multi-tiered farming systems with a multitude of crop species were raised for food, medicine, fuel and fodder, they were conserving germplasm in situ and simulating a natural forest cover.  These were the unrivalled features of ancient cultural traditions.

The high diversity of plant and animal species within a limited land area, has made Sri Lanka one of the 18 biodiversity hotspots in the world. Her repository of genetic biodiversity in traditional food crop varieties includes 135 in paddy, 31 grains, 73 pulses, 89 vegetables, 37 leafy vegetables, 54 banana and plantains, 62 fruits, 73 yams and 22 spices (Mohotti, 2002).

It is significant that the unique vegetation and faunal diversity of Sri Lanka has been the subject of extensive investigations by many travelers, explorers and merchants during colonial times. For instance J.W. Bennett (1843) and Sir James Emerson Tennent (1859), two British Civil Servants, have extensively described the unique biological diversity of Sri Lanka. Bennett (1843) has listed over 75 different vegetables and spices, 25 types of beans and cereals, and about 20 edible root crops. In some instances he has described briefly the method of preparation, culinary features, and the nutritional and medicinal value of these when used as common items of indigenous food.

Another indigenous food tradition is the preservation and storage of fresh or cooked food substances. These authors have described several ways in which food had been preserved and stored. These include a variety of ways in which uncooked or partially cooked food had been dehydrated or treated with preservatives such as kitchen ash, concentrated lime juice etc., and stored without spoilage for several months.

Robert Knox (1681), the 17th Century voyager, who for nearly 20 years was held in captivity in the Kingdom of Kandy, describes in his memoirs a large number of plants that were in use in food and medicine. In some instances he had tried to explain the methods of preparation of food from leaves, roots and fruits of plants, which according to him had both nutritious and medicinal value. Describing the manner of partaking food, Knox (1681) says, “They always wash their hands and mouth both before and after they have eaten”. Symbolically this statement implies the hygiene consciousness of the Sri Lankans in partaking of food, which apparently was an unusual experience for the Englishmen of that era.

Interestingly, J. W. Bennett (1843) has in several instances tried to indicate how the Englishmen back home would have relished and enjoyed some of the local fruits and cooked foods if these could be made available to them. For instance, referring to the popular ladies finger (Sin. Bandakka) he states, “The Bandika of the Singhalese (Hybiscus esculentus, L.) is mucilaginous and wholesome; and if dried in the sun and pulverized, it may be taken to any part of the world, and made a valuable article of commerce. If once admitted to our English cookery, it would soon establish a character for itself”.

Finally there is an extraordinary reference to our indigenous food and partaking habits in Tennent’s treatise on Ceylon when he makes the following statement:

“So well have national habits conformed to instinctive promptings in this regard (over indulgence in food and intemperance in wine, a source of disease amongst Europeans in Ceylon), that the natives of hot countries have unconsciously sought to heighten the enjoyment of food by taking their principal repast after sunset; and the European in the East will speedily discover himself the prudence, not only of reducing the quantity of, but in regard to the quality of his meals, of adopting those articles which nature has bountifully supplied as best suited to the climate. With a moderate use of flesh meat, vegetables, and especially farinaceous food, are chiefly to be commended.

The latter is rendered attractive by the unrivalled excellence of the Singhalese in the preparation of innumerable curries, each tempered by the delicate creamy juice expressed from the flesh of the coconut after it has been reduced to a pulp. Nothing of the same class in India can bear a comparison with the piquant delicacy of a curry in Ceylon, composed of fresh condiments and compounded by the skillful hand of a native (Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1859).

1. Bennett, J.W. (1843). Ceylon and Its Capabilities Wm. H. Allen and Co., 7, Leadenhall Street, London
2. Knox, Robert (1681). An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies. Richard Chifwell, Royal Society, London
3. Mohotti, K. (2000). Report of the Workshop for the Development of a National Strategy for Incorporating Traditional Knowledge into Development Practices. NASTEC/IUCN, Colombo.                                    
4. Tennent, J. E. (1859). Ceylon - An Account of the Island. Longman. Green, Longman, and Roberts, London