Eat, eat, eat !

Sri Lankans love to entertain. I am not talking about a big bash with loud music I am talking about how they just love to feed people.  Let me try and explain.

If you ever visit a Sri Lankan home it is very likely that after the first few social niceties have been in exchanged like 'hi how are you' 'come in' 'lovely to see you'. I would almost guarantee that the next question that will be asked is 'have you eaten' ? It is probably a direct translation from Sinhalese but it is a question that you will be asked.

Even if you swear on your mother's life that you have just had the biggest meal and you would not be able to eat a morsel I am here to tell that you that you will fail in your attempt to stop them from putting some sort of food in front of you.  At best some 'short eats' - which is equivalent to finger food or at the other end of the scale a full blown meal will be presented in the least possible time. Because you cannot let a visitor leave your house hungry and without being fed !

If you get to the stage of a full blown meal, you will probably need to have at least a second helping.  Your plate will be piled with food with the hostess hovering over you adding more to it with the constant 'eat, eat, eat' !!!

You can give no more joy to a Sri Lankan however rich or poor if you sit down to a meal with them. They will cook you the best meal that they are able to, with whatever ingredients they have and will feel so honoured that you have given them a chance to do this.

My children have been brought up in  Australia and I brought them up to be like this. They follow this ritual and it brings joy to my heart to see that they have not lost their heritage. However, I remember as a single parent with not much money to spare and trying to make ends meet I  would sparingly buy groceries that was needed for the week, to ensure that the kids were well fed. I came home one night after work and the curry that I had cooked for the nights dinner was gone ! I couldn't understand what had happened.  I called both kids thinking that they had put it somewhere else. But my son said to me, 'amma, my friends were over and I gave them something to eat'.  I was horrified, that was our dinner ! I said 'why on earth did you do that son, now what are we going to eat'?  And he said, 'you have always told us to feed anyone that comes to the house, my friends needed to be fed' ! I had no recourse. He had learnt his lesson well and we had baked beans on toast that night !