Why Sri Lankan hoppers should be given a better look-in because this
is how the world looks at our humble appe
That celebrated chef Jamie Kennedy serves hoppers at his new
restaurant in the Gardiner Museum should come as no surprise. His mother
is from Ceylon, after all, and he uses her recipe to fashion dozens of
edible "bowls" every week.
Hopper - an Anglicization of the Tamil word "appam" - is a fermented
rice-flour pancake popular in south India and Sri Lanka. Indian food
expert Madhur Jaffrey describes hopper as the love child of a French
crˆpe and English muffin. I say throw in the tang of a San Francisco
sourdough loaf and you really get the picture.
Two of the hoppers are plain, spongy at the bottom and lacy at the
top, with a sour tang. A third cradles an over-easy egg. A fourth has
been dabbed with rich, homemade coconut cream; when sprinkled with
granulated sugar, it's quite possibly the world's best breakfast.
"Not just for breakfast," the waiter tut-tuts. "You eat hopper any
time."
Whereas the Gardiner jazzes up its hoppers with an array of
condiments, Hopper Hut has just two: incendiary onion sambal, kissing
cousin to kimchi, and a more muted coconut sambal flecked with green
curry leaves. Tear a strip of hopper, wrap it around some sambal, and
feel the flavours of Sri Lanka rise through your palate. Hoppers are
much like sour-dough pancakes or muffins, really.
The batter is fermented in the traditional way with a little palm
toddy, which gives the hoppers a delicious liquor tang. The batter is
left to rise overnight, then thinned with coconut cream and baked in a
round cast-iron pan. The hopper has a soft, fluffy, well-risen centre, a
golden brown crisp border and is lightly flavoured with a hint of palm
toddy and sesame oil with which the pan is greased.
An egg is sometimes baked into the centre, sunny-side up. Hoppers are
equally good with hot sambals a hot sharp 'relish' of ground chilies,
grated coconut's shallots & cured fish or curries or with jam-the one
rule is to eat them hot.
Toronto Star and others
Amy Pataki
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