Cuthbert’s Golden Treasury of Spices in Sri Lanka

"Aisha heard the Prophet saying, 'This black cumin is healing for all diseases except As-Sam.' Aisha said, 'What is As-Sam?' He said, 'Death."

Traditional medicines use cumin for pain relief and digestive problems. Modern science has fixed on its principal compounds - thymoquinone and cuminaldehyde – to disentangle its likely abilities as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer agent. As a cooking ingredient, it stars especially in Indian, Mexican, African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern dishes, and it is no stranger to ambitious chefs either, featuring in trophy dishes like Chocolate and Cumin Fudge, Golden Lassi, Hazelnut Butter, and traditional sausage rolls. In Sri Lanka, it is so loved that it forms a key ingredient in Thuna Paha, the top go-to island curry powder used in countless local recipes.

"Gardens are not made by singing, ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade."

Known in more formal circles as Zingiber Officinale, ginger is a cultigen - one of those rare species that has been so altered by mankind as to no longer exist in its original wild state. Making it took real work. Originating from the rainforest islands of Southeast Asia, it has been modified to fit human culinary and medicinal needs. It probably arrived in Sri Lanka with Arab traders, but its travel schedule is so ancient as to be all but lost. The Rig Veda, which dates to around 1400 BCE and is the world’s oldest Vedic text, mentions ginger, and later ayurvedic books elaborate on its medicinal qualities - to reduce indigestion and nausea, stimulate the respiratory and nervous system, and, by improving blood circulation, act as an aphrodisiac. Recent scientific studies that have tabulated sexual function, fertility, and testosterone levels suggest that there may be something in this. Western science has also set in train a wave of further forensic research into the clinical applications of ginger in cancer control, menstrual pain, glucose levels, and the treatment of arthritis.

"I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling."

Deep at the ugly duckling end of the spice spectrum, the kaffir lime is a small, thorny, scrubby tree with an all-around appearance only a mother could love. It has few animal enemies of any sort. Its leaves appear to double back on themselves in growth, and its tiny, bitter, thick-rinded fruits are shaped like miniature brains. Its taste, however, is remarkable, much more citrusy and floral than that of any other lime, and for this reason alone, it is the secret weapon of all top chefs. It is used in place of traditional limes to give things the sort of intensity that only good rock music can otherwise bestow. Thai chefs have taken it to heart, using it for standout Massaman curries and Tom Yum soups. In Sri Lanka, it is mainly featured in Fish stews and beetroot curries. Its intense flavour and acidic nature also make it a favourite ingredient in other products, from leach spray to shampoo.

"Love conquers all things, except poverty and toothache."

Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine have long used cloves for pain relief, toothaches, digestion, colds, and gum infections, with their power mainly due to their high eugenol content. Modern science is busy reaffirming much of this. Recent studies have shown that it can reduce the SARS virus, combat oxidative stress to mitigate chronic diseases, including cancer, prevent bacterial infections, reduce rheumatoid arthritis pain, and be as effective as benzocaine in relieving tooth pain.

"The most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you."

Coriander, the Marmite of the spice world, is a taste that stays with you long after you have consumed it. You either love it or hate it - a predisposition that is said to be genetic. Its distinctive, pungent, spicy, citrus green taste and aroma are never in purdah in any dish. Native to the Mediterranean and Middle East, and ancient beyond wrinkles, coriander first appears back in 5000 BCE in Sanskrit literature before popping up in the ancient Greek papyri and the Bible - Exodus 16:31, to be exact: “…and the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” The spice travelled with the Romans, Chinese, and Arabs on every possible trade route, spreading rapidly across the globe as ABBA.

"You can mix two styles and get fusion; any more, and you just get confusion."

Moringa is widely used in Sri Lankan cooking, a favourite addition to all things fish, and its stars with the most incredible lustre in the island’s celebrated Spicy Drumstick Curry dish. But if it’s a touch of fusion food you are really after, go down the moringa-as-asparagus route. Collect young, tender pods around a foot long before they become too woody. Trim them into smaller asparagus-like lengths, add onion, butter, and salt, and boil for 10 minutes. Then steam the pods in a marinade of oil, vinegar, sea salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley and enjoy them with all the sophisticated delight that made Louis XIV’s obsessive consumption of asparagus so memorable as to figure in every contemporary Versailles diary.

“A taste for simplicity cannot endure for long.”

Goraka fruit, which resembles doll’s house-sized pumpkins, is first dried before its flesh is used in place of lime or tamarind to give dishes, especially fish dishes, a distinctly tart taste. The fruit badly needs this pre-preparation, as it is otherwise far too acidic to eat raw. Its most famous island offering is Ambulthiyal, the classic Sri Lankan sour fish curry, where, as part of a mix of spices, the fish turns the meat a stylish black as the walls of a Soho literary cocktail bar. In Ayurvedic medicine, Goraka is used to treat ulcers and digestive problems. Western medicine is now busy studying its hydroxycitric acid content to better design medicines that increase fat burning whilst simultaneously reducing fat accumulation and appetite. Some scientists also believe it can help manage cholesterol, stabilise blood sugar levels, and protect the body from cell damage.

“Could you spare a small smackerel?”

You don’t need much cumin to make a difference, but what a difference even a little will make. Nutty, warm, slightly bitter and, when toasted, very aromatic, the spice lingers on your palate, reminding you gladly of epicurean pleasures only just past. A prominent member of the parsley family, it appears to have rapidly spread from its home base around the Mediterranean to take over the entire world. Clocking in at almost two billion dollars annually, its production is led by India, with Sri Lanka producing barely enough for its own consumption.

“Fenugreek, Tuesday's spice, when the air is green like mosses after rain.”

The plant, an annual, grows to a bushy two feet in height, happiest in full sun and is well able to tolerate drought. Its celery-tasting leaves are often used in curries and salads. Still, it is its seeds that attract the greater use, giving dishes a nutty, maple-like taste with hints of curry, as in Aloo Methi, the Indian potato curry or Persian Sabzi stews. In Sri Lanka, its seeds are especially enjoyed when combined with a few onions, chilli, garlic cloves, tamarind, and plenty of thick coconut milk to make a simple vegetarian curry.

“In short, know this: Human lives are brief and trivial. Yesterday a blob of semen; tomorrow embalming fluid, ash.”

A herb long associated with mummifying much, fenugreek originated in Turkey six thousand years ago. It became so widespread as to appear with residential ease in the texts, medicines, and recipes of the first Mesopotamian and Indian civilisations, as well as those of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Use it, advised the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BCE, to embalm the dead, purify the air, and cleanse the tummy. A central component of Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, it was regarded with great suspicion by Western medicine – until recently. It is now enjoying an investigative renaissance as labourites around the world probe its antidiabetic, anti-obesity, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal, and antibacterial properties.

“It’s so much more friendly with two.”

Cardamom is the spice world’s twin spice, coming as it does in two variants – Green cardamom, which has a very intense flavour, and Black cardamom, which is cooler and smokier. Black cardamom comes from the Amomum plant, which grows on the slopes of the Himalayas, but the green variety, known scientifically as Elettaria, is the true cardamom. Green cardamom grows best in deep shade in wet, hilly, tropical or sub-tropical areas with plenty of rainfall. Reaching bushy heights of up to 15 feet, it takes three years before it starts bearing seeds that can be harvested. The difficulties and time required to grow the spice help explain its production focus, with Guatemala and India accounting for the vast majority of the nearly one billion dollars it generates annually. Sri Lanka’s own production, centred mainly around Kandy, Matale, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, and Ratnapura, accounts for a tiny proportion of the total.

“Nothing in this world is as it seems. Except, possibly, porridge.”

In Europe, the herb Gotu Kola has yet to make the leap from specialist natural food shops to supermarkets, but here in Sri Lanka, almost any vegetable shop sells it. It stars in many island dishes, but the most famous is as a porridge. Kola Kanda, or Gotu Kola Herbal Rice Porridge, to give it its full and formal name, is a comfort food that is ridiculously easy to make. Red rice and a bit of garlic are boiled up. Gotu Kola and curry leaves are blended to a fine dust, strained, and added to the cooked rice with coconut milk. The gorgeous green porridge is poured into breakfast bowls and served with a piece of sweet jaggery – and so begins a better day.

“One of the advantages of being disorganised is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”

Spice gardens exist in most parts of the country, but most especially in the highlands around Kandy, where the balance of climatic and environmental conditions is, as Voltaire might have stated, had he called in on Kandy, “all for the best in the best of possible worlds.” Here, a striking form of gardening unique to the island comes into play – the Kandyan gardening technique, a system developed in this region 500 years ago. The method, still practised here, is open to anyone with a garden – and a mindset to plant it so it mimics a disorganised tropical rainforest. Dig for Victory never looked so good. Erosion is minimised, fallen leaves keep soil temperatures at kinder levels, and fertility is enhanced. It is as if a sumo wrestler had squeezed himself into a pair of shiny jeans. In spaces of an acre or two – and often less than that - taller trees are interplanted with shorter ones. Shrubs, creepers, and ground cover are allowed to prosper. The resulting fusion garden typically includes jackfruit, mahogany, mango, teak, avocado; smaller fruits like banana, papaya, rambutan, and guava; medicinal trees like beli and neem; vegetables; ornamental plants, orchids, ferns, and crotons – and of course as many spice plants as can be squeezed in. The multi-layered garden that busts out has astonishing biodiversity – and an embarrassment of virtues: a self-sustaining ecosystem that boosts soil health and plant resilience to disease.

“The heaven of childhood had something to do with citrus…”

Curry leaves give all the dishes they touch an earthy citrus-like flavour and a scent as if lemon grass and star anise had been twinned in some ecstatic horticultural coupling. It is especially delicious when fried with cashew nuts. Picked and used fresh off the tree, like basil in Italian cooking or marjoram in Greek dishes, there is almost no South Asian dish to which it cannot be added to deepen both flavour and scent. It has long been a staple ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine for treating skin and hair problems and for combating indigestion, bloatig, and constipation. Western science is studying its various chemical properties, especially its carbazole alkaloids, to improve cancer and anti-inflammatory therapies.

“The tree of life is growing where the spirit never dies…”

Known as the “tree of life,” moringa is, according to several authoritative scientific studies, ridiculously healthy. Its dried leaves offer seven times the Vitamin C of oranges, nine times the protein of yoghurt, ten times the Vitamin A of carrots, and fifteen times the potassium of bananas. It is widely used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine to mitigate heart disease and as an anti-inflammatory, anti-cholesterol, antidepressant, and antioxidant. It may also help you see better and grow more luxurious hair. The ancient Greeks used it in perfume. The Egyptian pharaohs depended on it for their complex death rituals. Warriors consumed it before battle.

"Cease to harbour concerns that you will be powdered."

Because cloves require high humidity to ensure the proper development of the flower bud, good drainage, rich soil, and abundant rainfall, they are now grown mostly within 10 degrees of the equator. Worth around seven billion dollars annually – and growing fast, almost half the production comes from Madagascar, with a little under ten per cent from Sri Lanka, especially from small plantations around Kandy, Kegalle, and Matale. Here, the climatic conditions are so beneficial that cloves are renowned amongst buyers for their richer, more intense oils and flavour.

The trees themselves, Syzygium aromaticum, are slender and reach about 40 feet tall. It takes them over 6 years to grow before producing buds. But they then stick at the job for some eighty years, making clove orchards things of great value. Although they grow with relative ease and resist most animal attacks, they are challenging to manage, requiring careful, time-sensitive hand-harvesting to pick the buds at the optimal time. Once the leafy structure that encases a flower bud changes from green to pink, and just before the petals themselves open, is the time to pluck them. They then must be separated from their stalks and left to dry gently in the sun.

"I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex."

For so simple-looking a plant, lemongrass is the most complex of food additives, with its unreproducible blend of sweet, tangy, floral, citrusy, and almost ginger-like flavours. It has hallmarked any number of Malay and Thai dishes, particularly fish cakes, curries, and sauces, whilst in the West, there is no better way to start your morning than with a lemongrass tisane at Alain Ducasse’s restaurant in The Dorchester. It is used in many Sri Lankan dishes, but when added to the classic Cashew Curry, it elevates the eating experience to a level only slightly below the gods.

"In a few years, without the numerous causes of destruction, which arrests their fecundity, these plants would overrun the earth.”

Sri Lanka’s bountiful landscapes, lavish rainfall, rich soils, wider ranging temperatures, and generous range of microclimates from coasts to cloud forest, scrubland to jungle, ensure that there is always somewhere where every spice will grow to its best possible advantage. Cynics say all you need to do is chuck in a few seeds or cuttings into Sri Lanka’s soil, and they will grow with a profusion that needs little human encouragement. And that is especially true in the hills, which make up twenty per cent of the island’s land mass, where the climate, monsoons, soils, and weather patterns make for an alarming fecundity.

"My carrot will never make it through the new year with all of you around!"

Fennel owes its remote DNA to carrots. It is a staple ingredient in the Sri Lankan kitchen, prized for its sweet, liquorice-like flavour, the Paddington Bear of the spice world, easy to grow from seeds in full sun, its base bulb ready to harvest after just three months. Native to the Mediterranean, the plant was widely known across the ancient civilisations of the region and travelled swiftly and almost unnoticed to Asia and beyond – including Sri Lanka, one of the many discreet gifts of the Indian Ocean trade. Its sweet, grassy taste is often incorporated into many Sri Lankan dishes, from curries to Watalappan.

"Three roots of ginger a day keep sorrow away."

It is an easy plant to grow, demanding dappled shade, well-drained soil, and high humidity. Rhizomes with green growth buds are planted in shallow depressions, and before long, green leaves, sometimes up to ten feet high, spread out, accompanied by pink or white flowers so perfect in their construction as to look as if they have sprung from moulds. Within eight months, the roots can be harvested and the process restarted. At ten billion dollars and growing, the global market for ginger outstrips production, and so prices are higher than they really need to be.

We hope someday to be saints, but not martyrs”

Consumers of Gotu Kola are more likely than most to end up as saints than martyrs. For this most demure of Sri Lanka’s indigenous species, is something of a Mother Theresa - awash with virtue and value. Known as pennywort or centella asiatica, it is a herbaceous perennial vegetable with small, round leaves that bud from soft stems, like a kind, apple-green version of watercress. It thrives in rich, moist soil, with plenty of shade and manure – the swampy edges of ponds are an especial favourite. The leaf has a subtle, earthy taste, sweet and bitter at the same time and combines exceptionally well with coconut.

It is popular in traditional medicine, where it is believed to promote longevity and good vision. Modern science is catching up on the beneficial effects of its principal compounds – especially triterpenoid saponins, naturally occurring sugars. Studies suggest this has many applications: as an antiviral to inhibit the replication of viruses like herpes; as an antioxidant; as an anti-neoplastic to combat cancers; and to promote collagen production. Other studies are in progress to identify how it helps improve memory and support blood circulation.

“As patient and still, And as full of goodwill, As fair Isaphill, Coriander, Sweet pomander, Good Cassander…”

An annual that grows absurdly easily from seeds, coriander production is led by India, and has mushroomed into a $5 billion-a-year market. Traditional medicines across the world include a wide range of treatments for most problems, from fever, diarrhoea, indigestion, and piles to vomiting, arthritis, and gout. Modern scientific research is a little pickier, but many studies have begun to show its value in treating disorders of the nervous system and diabetes, and in combating malignant microorganisms. The more you cut it, the more it grows. In cooking, every part of coriander can be used – its intensely flavoured seeds, its grassy leaves and stalks, even its delicate white flowers, which pair very well with cheese. It appears in any number of curries from South to SE Asia, as well as – famously in Yemeni Zhug, Salsas, Tiger Salad, the carrot Potage de Crécy soup, Egyptian bissara dips, and, of course, Sri Lankan Kothamalli Tea – the go-to comfort drink that everyone sips on the island if feeling mildly out of sorts.

“Did you ever visit Gomorrah?’ ‘Sure,’ said the demon. ‘There was this great little tavern where you could get these terrific cocktails with crushed lemongrass…”

For reasons best known to travel agents, Sri Lanka’s indigenous lemon grass, Cymbopogon Citratus, gained the moniker “West Indian Lemongrass” somewhere along the way. It is one of only two species of Cymbopogon that are treasured in all the ways lemongrass should be, the other being Cymbopogon flexuosus, a variant more inclined to produce oils and medicines used in foods. Greener, thicker, more fragrant, and harder to grow, Sri Lanka’s native so-called West Indian lemongrass is the one to be found in discriminating kitchens. Although modern science has yet to fully determine the impact of its various bioactive compounds, it has, in large part, endorsed the characteristics that have made it a popular ingredient in folk medicine: relieving pain and arthritis, reducing blood pressure, inhibiting infection and vomiting, and combating gastrointestinal disorders and fevers.

“I crave the... aftermark of almost too much love, the sweet of bitter bark, and burning clove.”

It is as a food item that cloves are most cherished. From glazed hams to candied oranges, tea to biscuits, trifles to curries – there is an unending wealth of recipes, such as Sri Lankan Garlic Clove Curry and Seeni Sambol. They have even made it the prize ingredient in Sykurlaus kryddkaka, the national cake of Iceland, and in Pickled Muktuk, a favoured Thanksgiving dish of whale blubber cooked in Alaska.

“It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.”

As long as it has access to lots of sun, curry leaves from the sweet neem tree are the most straightforward of plants to grow, growing well from cuttings and root divisions and are afraid of few, if any, animals. It reaches heights of around four meters quickly and tolerates all soil types and prolonged periods of dryness. Its small pinnate leaves are a commonplace ingredient in Sri Lanka and are no longer the Mr Quiet of the spice world, becoming ever better known outside of South and SE Asia and China.

“I’m so rumbly in my tumbly.”

Winnie the Pooh and Fennel were made for one another. Pooh’s oft-reported tummy troubles might easily have been treated had he reached out for this distinctive herb. A component of many traditional medicines, fenel has long been used to relieve colds and digestive problems. Modern science seems to validate this, with studies showing how one of its main compounds, anethole, helps relieve stomach ailments. And perhaps more interestingly, further research indicates that it can also help prevent liver disease.

“Oh the places you’ll go.”

Until relatively recently, Sri Lanka’s source of cloves had been a matter of debate, with some historians pointing to the Portuguese and others to Arab traders. However, the discovery a few years ago of a pot containing cloves, excavated in the ancient port of Mathottam in the northwest of the island and dating back to 900-1100 CE, suggests that the clove trade was already well established long before the first European colonists arrived. Indeed, the only clove discovered anywhere else in the world that predates this one is one found in Syria, perfectly preserved since 2000 BCE. Interestingly, the Sri Lankan clove was not excavated in isolation. It was found alongside many other preserved cereals and grains and 11,418 pottery fragments from 123 different wares, a quarter of which were clearly imports - indicating that in this port, as no doubt in others, a dynamic and cosmopolitan settlement was in progress – like Dubai, only older and greener. Detailed research on the clove in question has since revealed that it came from the Maluku Islands in today’s Indonesia – a 7,000-kilometre journey.

But even before this date, the spice had long since spread around the world. Third-century BCE records from the Chinese Han dynasty refer to the spice as “hi-sho-hiang” or "bird’s tongue,” and recommend that the Emperor’s officers chew some before starting a conversation with their fastidious overlords. The Ayurvedic Charaka Samhita, dating back to the first century CE, also recommends it as a medicine, as did the Roman Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE). It is probable that cloves grew as permanent features of ancient plantations in India and Sri Lanka and had already taken root well before the European colonists arrived, for the Portuguese and later the Dutch spent much time trying to uproot them, in an effort to enforce the monopoly they enjoyed with this spice from their control of its primary source in Indonesia.

“Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man”

The culinary form of ginger has two main variants: red for medicine, and white for cooking. Its sweet, citrusy flavour, as well as its peppery heat, changes during preparation. When raw, it is at its most pungent; when dried, it is at its hottest; and when cooked, it is at its sweetest. From ginger cakes and ginger beer to stir-fry ginger beef, it is used in many dishes across the world – but perhaps none so celebrated as with Gingerbread men. England’s first Queen Elizabeth even had an official royal gingerbread maker whose sole role was to make such pastries, once famously creating edible clones of all the foreign dignitaries who assembled at her 16th-century court. In Sri Lanka, it is especially favoured in chicken and sambal dishes.

“The short-lived self, teetering on the edge of extinction, is the only thing that can ever really matter.”

Moringa is a short-lived, fast-growing, ten-metre-high tree, indigenous to India and Sri Lanka. It matures with good-tempered ease, demanding only tropical temperatures, water, and good drainage. Barely known outside Asia and Africa, it is a spice to covet. Every part of the plant is edible. Its leaves can be used in salads or boiled like spinach. Its flowers make an excellent tea, and its seed pods, when young, are a rare alternative to asparagus. Its taste is grassy, a little bitter with an agreeable horseradish-like heat and flavour, which explains why it is also known as the horseradish tree.

“Too caustic? To hell with the costs, we'll make the picture anyway.”

One of Sri Lanka’s lesser-known spices is brindleberry – known here as Goraka, or to give it its full and formal Latin honorific, Garcinia gummi-gutta. It is the Lewis Carroll of the spice world for the White Rabbit must have had its mercilessly caustic taste in mind as he wandered through Wonderland: “The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, And took them quite away!” It is a slow-growing rainforest tree that reaches about 20 meters in height, with dark, shiny leaves and rough, black bark. It is an unfussy plant, growing happily so long as it has its roots in deep, well-drained, slightly acidic, light clay soil.