Editorial

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

On a culinary journey

by Chitra Weerasinghe

Food is a creative pursuit. Food is fun! Food is an absurdity. And food is a necessity. That's what it appears to be to Kusuma Cooray, Sri Lanka's Honorary Consul in Hawaii - a chef par excellence and Associate Professor/Chef Instructor at Hawaii's Culinary Institute of the Pacific for the last thirteen years.

Kusuma Cooray has an interesting and fruitful culinary career

Kusuma was here recently for the launching of her book 'Burst of Flavour' at the Hilton Colombo - an occasion graced by Chief Guest American Ambassador Ashley Willis; and a representative gathering of relatives and friends who had flown all the way from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India to wish her well in her culinary endeavour.

Watching the traditional ceremonial opening and listening to speeches about her not forgetting her roots, her homeland and that 'Lankan touch' despite having lived in the US for 27 years, I was intrigued into having a chat with this woman whose head is full of culinary ideas and who promotes not only trade and tourism between our two countries but also Lankan spices - calling them the 'Jewels of Sri Lanka in the Culinary World.'

When Kusuma left Sri Lanka 30 years ago for the UK, it was to train at London's Cordon Bleu, enjoy a short holiday in the US and return home. But that was not to be. ''I never returned home'', she said, with a look that expressed neither sadness nor gladness. Perhaps it was my incredulous gaze that made her volunteer an explanation.

''While in America I met the man of my dreams - Ranjith Cooray, a botanist. And I married him in 1975. It was he who pushed me into writing this book. It was he who fuelled my interest and helped me right through my culinary career to arrive where I have. And it was he who helped me with all the botanical names of the various herbs and spices used in this book. But, unfortunately, he is not here to see me fulfil his wish. He passed away two years ago.''

Kusuma has dedicated the book, which she says took her almost six years to complete, to her husband.

Her culinary career has been fruitful and interesting; and she talked of it as being the result of her highly movable ''mental kitchen'' and memories that were a feast to her senses. Among those memories were the boats laden with vegetables floating on the waters of Kashmir's Dal Lake displaying baskets of snow white radishes. The floating markets in Bangkok's Chao Phraya river with wooden pails of light green onions, the purple streaked small artichokes in the farmers market in Chartres, France; her first experience in France of tasting raw artichoke hearts sliced like curly wood shavings, dipped in virgin olive oil with grated Parmesan cheese and ground black pepper. And her childhood memories of mother cooking mustard curry with ono, halibut or swordfish delivered to their door by fishermen fresh from the sea which was just 300 yards away from her home; her mother in her canopied four poster bed munching roasted garlic drizzled with bees honey and feeding her some of that; their domestic-aid shredding green leaves with a knife between her toes; and the tasty, nutritious vegetarian dishes of India, the largest legume consuming country in the world.

''The Bibilical Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a potage of lentils (lentils, peas and beans). Legume consumption in India dates as far back as early Aryan times,'' she reminded me. Having been bred on spicy curries, sambols, pickles, fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, curd and treacle; and thereafter having cultivated a taste for ripe cheeses, wine and crusty breads, Dover sole, Scottish salmon, creme fraichae and raspberries during her culinary education and apprenticeship in England and France; and still having a yen for our spices and herbs; she was anxious to introduce their pungent, fragrant and haunting flavours in western cuisine. And so began mixing and marrying these spices, be they roasted, raw, ground, powdered or popped in oil with curry leaves, green chillies, garlic ginger, in the dishes she turned out.

She says she uses ''the French favourites with appreciation. The Lankan standbys with nostalgia. The local supermarket array with pleasure; and the out of the way treasures with deep thought''.

"I love the cooking side more than the baking side though I have a Diploma in Confectionery and Baking. My forte is hot dishes and I teach Continental cuisine and not Lankan curries to those students who cook for the Ka'lkena Lauae restaurant, also referred to as Ka'lkana restaurant, one of Hawaii's most popular restaurants, she pointed out.

And it is in response to the search for those exotic flavours and flavour-combinations that she has written 'Burst of Flavour'. And her book is laced with anecdotes and vignettes that both inform and entertain the reader. One of these says though garlic has been around in India since Aryan times, respectable people did not eat it. She quotes Waverly Root as having said, that before he left the US in 1927 to live in Europe 'you were looked down if you ate garlic, but that when he returned in 1940, he found to his utter surprise, that if you did not eat garlic you were looked down upon.

Another note says spices calm the nerves and soothe the senses;they just don't only please the palate. Cloves act as an antiseptic; fennel and cardamons are a mouth freshner, they aid digestion and prevent heartburn. Tumeric is an antiseptic used for treating skin diseases; legumes cooked with ginger or asafoetida counteract flatulence; fenugreek prevents stomach disorders; and coriander is a decongestant. Besides, spices stimulate the appetite, enhance liver functions and increase blood circulation.

"What gave me a jump start in my career was my stint in the 1970s as personal chef to Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress who, having inherited the tobacco fortune, was at 13 years the richest girl in the world,'' said Kusuma.

Besides that, Kusuma has served as the Executive Chef for the renowned restaurant 'the Willows' and the Banyan Gardens in Honolulu. She is the chief coordinator of the culinary arts program and being the mentor to Lankan students in Hawaii sees to their educational needs. She was also instrumental in building a strong relationship with her university and the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association (CHSGA).

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager