TROPICAL TOPICS, Sunday 13 May 2012
Greetings once again from amazing Sri Lanka.
Made in Sri Lanka
One of the (American) gourmet e-Newsletters I receive had a recipe for a cocktail made with Lapsong Souchong tea and rye whiskey. This gave me the idea for a less esoteric cocktail made with tea, whisky, and ginger cordial all from Sri Lanka. I used single estate, unblended, BOP (that’s broken orange pekoe) tea from the Glenanore Estate (500g cost Rs450; £ 2.19; US$ 3.60). However, any supermarket loose leaf tea would do as long as the packet claims it is Pure Ceylon Tea.
The ginger cordial comes from the Adisham Monastery shop. I used one of the several whiskies produced in Sri Lanka although it seemed to be more neutral spirit with caramel colouring and whisky flavouring than actual Scotch. However, any cheap whisky is great as the mix mellows the taste.
Here goes. To a generous spoonful of BOP tea in a cup (or tea pot) add boiling mineral water (has to be pure). Cover and let the tea leaves steep for at least five minutes. Strain the liquid into a glass, cool, and then put it in the fridge to chill.
Put lots of ice into a cocktail shaker, pour in a measure of whisky, and then add an equal measure of neat ginger cordial and an equal measure of the chilled tea. Squeeze in the juice from a lime wedge. Shake vigorously. Serve in a martini glass… and slowly sip a tea-lightful taste of Sri Lanka.
Vesak
From Emil Van Der Poorten, the proprietor of the ancestral bungalow Halgolla which he has turned into a plantation guest house (www.halgollaplantationhome.com) I received a copy of his May eNewsletter with its reference to Vesak, celebrated in Sri Lanka on 5 & 6 May.
“May is the month of greatest religious significance to a country which contains the reputedly most pristine form of Theravada Buddhism. The Vesak Full Moon Poya festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment and demise of Gautama Buddha. It is a veritable festival of light with huge “pandals” constructed in most of the population centres and temples. Homes are festooned with multi-hued lanterns and oil lamps. Needless to say, this is a time of religious observances in every little town and hamlet, as well as the larger population centres. If you want to see Sri Lanka in its finest after-sunset garb, this is the time to visit!”
Paying guests are welcome at Halgolla for an introduction to genuine Sri Lanka hospitality (and cooking!) in natural surroundings, and with a sense of history. This intriguing portrait, which hangs in the parlour, is of A J Van Der Poorten, the original owner of the bungalow.
Symbols of Sri Lanka
On my trip to Haputale last week, I was lucky enough to encounter two symbols typical of Sri Lanka: elephants and a tea factory. We had just stopped the van at the no longer used (“silent” in planter’s parlance) tea factory of Glenanore. I was getting ready to photograph the GOLDEN HILL tea kiosk that has recently opened on the ground floor of the factory when, to my amazement, two elephants and their mahouts passed happily on a truck on their way further up the hills.
Cottage Extravaganza
When so many of Sri Lanka’s guest houses are raising prices while doing nothing to train staff and raise their salaries to ensure service commiserate with their ambitious room rates, Mount Field Cottages on the road to Haputale is concentrating on providing a pleasant holiday experience without problems.
Mews-like cottages have huge bathrooms, granite walls and splendid panoramic views of the hills stretching into the southern distance. There are more guest rooms on lower levels, including a suite of smaller rooms beside the swimming pool. This is shaded with blue and has a faux trompe l’oeil painting of a beach scene at one end. It’s hard to believe one is in the hills of Halpe and not in a beach resort.
The open-sided restaurant is at the opposite end of the swimming pool, with an open kitchen and a help yourself lunch counter where a superb spread of chicken and fish curries, two kinds of rice, and five vegetable curries, plus dessert, costs SLRs600 (£ 2.85; US$ 4.80). Vegetables are organic and home grown.
The stewards, in black and white polo shirts, seem to be everywhere, serving with a smile and happy to chat about the menu, the sights in the area, and proud to discuss the resort’s attractions.
The A la carte menu includes the Mount Field Cottage speciality of seafood dishes and a platter of batter-fried mushrooms, onions and garlic, as well as succulent devilled dishes including mutton, served here by hotel school trainee, Dulanjaya. Mixed fried rice starts at Rs300 and a Club Sandwich is Rs460. A service charge of 10 percent is added to all prices and, for once, the obliging service seems worth it.
Mount Field Cottages, www.mountfieldcottage.com 166km post, Haputale Road, Halpe; tel: 057 3575336. Rooms from Rs4,500 (£ 21.42; US$ 36) plus 10% service charge.
Attic Archives
“I guess you’d call the boy in the picture a weirdie. And you’d be right. He’s strictly, as they say in Beatnik language, from Weirdsville.”
So begins the article by Sally Vincent in the Daily Mirror of 26 November 1959 that I found in my attic archives.
It goes on to say: “His name is Royston Ellis. He’s eighteen and he’s a great guy… Royston chummed up with Cliff Richard (the-most-popular-boy-in Britain) and the result was ‘ROCKETRY’ – Royston’s POETRY read aloud against a background of ROCK music.”
Ah, happy, innocent days! Read all about it in my book The Big Beat Scene, which has a new foreword and afterword added to the text originally published in 1961. It’s available through: http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html.
Beat regards
Royston Ellis
