‘Serendip’ by Peter Kuruvita – Book Review
Jun 11th, 2009 by admin
I love culinary journeys, whether reading about them or going on them. So when I came across Serendip, a journey through the island nation of Sri Lanka by Kuruvita (who is of Sri Lankan- Austrian origin but based in Australia), I knew it would be a cookery book that I would take great pleasure in reviewing (courtesy of Murdoch Books).
I’m very particular about the books I review. I like them to follow the concept of ‘traveleating’ and Serendip is an outstanding example. The evocative photos of people and daily life in Sri Lanka really stand out, even more so than the food photography, while the recipes are a combination of the Kuruvita family treasure trove, as well as of the most popular dishes and traditional street foods. And the story about Kuruvita’s journey as a young child travelling by minibus from London to Sri Lanka with his family is heartwarming, as are the anecdotes about family life and food while growing up in Sri Lanka.
The book starts with recipes for basic curry powders, chutneys, sambals (the fresh coconut or pol sambal sounded particularly enticing) and pickles. In the section on cooking rice, I was pleased to see that he also measures water using a finger, although he advocates water up to the first joint of one’s middle finger, while my mother taught me to use the little finger!
The curry recipes follow, with interesting main ingredients such as sprats, squid, snake bean, cashew nut, egg, pineapple and breadfruit. The section on street foods and snacks from the various ethnic groups appealed to me more though, and I was fascinated to read about the popularity of road trips around the country, and of course the enticing food consumed on these trips – egg hoppers, deep-fried mutton rolls, vadai and bonda. The final sections cover sweet dishes (love cake and milk toffee sound mouthwatering), bread and four personal recipes from Kuruvita’s father.
Having raved so much about Serendip, I do have to point out that I did struggle to find a recipe for which I could easily source all the ingredients without having to use substitutes, spend a fortune or travel across London. Having cooked quite a few Indian dishes in the last year, fortunately I already had all my spices, which I regularly use. Ingredients such as goroka (kokam), a souring and thickening agent unique to Sri Lanka, and Maldive fish flakes, made in the Maldives from skip jack tuna, were another matter and with no instructions on suitable substitutes, I was a bit lost.
In the end, I chose fish cutlets, a street snack food, which turned out to be an excellent choice and something I’ll definitely make for visitors in the future. ‘They are delicious hot or cold and go really well with a beer. They should be quite spicy but you can adjust the heat by increasing or decreasing the amount of chilli’, according to Kuruvita.
Ingredients: (makes 16)
- 350g / 12oz piece of skinless bonito or tuna, cut into 4cm / 1½ in pieces (I chose the latter, line-caught)
- 200g / 7oz pontiac potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm/ ¾ in pieces (no pontiacs at my supermarket so I bought Desiree instead, also red-skinned)
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 litre /35 fl oz / 4 cups vegetable oil (I only used 500ml)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 sprig fresh curry leaves, leaves picked (I used half a sprig’s worth as the curry leaves were beginning to dominate the mixture. These were bought from the Indian Spice Shop on Drummond St, London)
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- 3 small green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used just 1 egg)
- 75g / 2½oz / ¾ cup fine dry breadcrumbs (I used Japanese panko, as I had it in my cupboard)
What to do next: (my comments in parentheses)
Sprinkle the fish and potatoes with black pepper, then place them in a steamer and steam for 10 minutes or so or until the potatoes are tender (when I made this, the tuna was added about 6 minutes after the potatoes).
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a heavy-based frying pan over low heat and cook the onion, curry leaves and cumin for 6-8 minutes or until the onion is soft but not brown (I wasn’t sure how hot the chillies would be raw, so I added them to this mixture to make them milder).
Coarsely mash potato and fish in a bowl, add the chilli, onion mixture and salt and combine well (before moving on to the next step, I had to let everything cool down before being able to handle the mixture with my hands). Divide the mixture into 16 portions, then shape each portion in the palm of your hand to make small discs.
Dust the cutlets in the flour, dip in the egg and coat with breadcrumbs.
Place on a baking paper-lined tray and stand for 10 minutes. Heat the remaining oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy-based saucepan to 180°C / 350°F or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil browns in 15 seconds (I did neither but concede that it would be useful to buy a thermometer for next time!). Deep-fry the cutlets in batches until they are golden, then drain on paper towels and serve hot or at room temperature.
Delicious!
Have a look at some of my other book reviews on World Foodie Guide.
Wow, these looks perfect!
The book looks beautiful, reminds me of Secrets of the Red Lantern, also published by Murdoch, similar styling on front cover. That one’s a “traveleating” book too about a Vietnamese family who escaped to Australia (what the press called the boat people). It’s written by one of the children. Beautiful book/ story but haven’t tried a recipe from it yet.
Your cakes look stunning, so beautifully shaped too!
They look delicious! A great recipe to have chosen. I adore fishcakes.
how niche……never tried sri lankan before…similar to indian cooking?
Thank you for this review and recipe! I quickly checked to see its availability in the US but sadly, not yet (it’s available on Amazon.uk, though). I’m quite keen on learning more about Sri Lankan cuisine as I confess to being one of those people who lumped it into “Indian food” category. The course I’m currently taking is being taught by a Sri Lankan-American who speaks often of her birthland which in turn has been an eye-opener.
Now, I am going to track down fresh curry leaves – I have never used them before but would love to try!
Wow this sounds so good and it also sounds like a must have book, but if as Tangled Noodle says its not available in the Us, we’ll just have to bide our time until we can get our hands on a copy.
I am curious to see if I have any better luck getting my hands on the goroka and Maldive fish flakes. We have an incredible array of Indian markets that branch out into other cuisines near by, and now I have a good excuse to go travelfoodshoppingeating.
Such wonderful flavours but I’m a bit scared of cooking with lots of spices.
ooh yum yum yum! these look lovely. That tuna is such an amazing colour. The book sounds very intriguing although it is a shame about the substitutes. Perhaps they might be available online?
I mean the hard to find ingredients might be available online…
Kavey – thank you! They’re the best shaped cakes I’ve ever made. Usually they’re quite ugly, but somehow these turned out really nicely. I’ve read about the book you’re referring to. It sounds lovely…
Ollie – I also love fish cakes, so it was quite an easy choice in the end. Simple recipes work best for me!
chinesechic – I wouldn’t dare say that! There are some similarities in terms of the spices used, but I think that’s as far as I would go.
Tangled Noodle – how interesting your lecturer is Sri Lankan-American. I hope you can get hold of the book (and the fresh curry leaves!)
OysterCulture – oh let me know if you track down those ingredients. I think I would have found them had I travelled to an area of London called Tooting, where there is a large Sri Lankan community. I like ‘travelfoodeatingshopping’!
pigpigscorner – why are you scared of it? It’s very easy – just follow the recipe…
Helen – yes, I didn’t think of searching online for them. I wasn’t sure how much I’d use them though (or use them when cooking non-Sri Lankan food), which is another reason I didn’t hunt so hard. I don’t like unused ingredients in the kitchen!
Helen Yuet Ling
I cooked with a lovely Sri Lankan lady a few months ago. One of the things on our menu were these lovely fishcakes. They work very well even with tinned tuna.
Sounds like a lovely book.
Sri Lankan food I’ve had has a very distinct character from Indian foods I’ve had (though there seems to be some similarities with some South Indian cuisines).
I don’t think I’ve really had Sri Lankan food so I’d be interested to try more recipes. I really love curry leaves, so this recipe sounds perfect.
It was a struggle to find the ingredients for my Serendip inspired Underground menu. But Wembley is apparently the place to go.
http://marmitelover.blogspot.com/2009/06/tinderflints-house-concert-at.html
Maninas – I’m sure tinned tuna would work just as well, although I wanted to stick to the suggested ingredients for this book review.
Lizzie – I have loads of curry leaves in the freezer (thanks for your tip!), if you ever need some!
MsMarmitelover – I heard Tooting as well, so I’ll know for next time.
Helen Yuet Ling
I have never managed to make anything like this look as perfect as yours, mine always end up falling apart and misshapen! I will give this a go though as they sound (and look) delicious.
Jenny – thanks, but guess what, nor have I! I was really amazed at how these turned out so perfectly. Let me know how yours turn out. I think letting the mixture cool down and then letting the cakes set for another ten minutes really helps. Yesterday the husband did neither when making rice cakes from leftovers, and they fell apart!
I came across your article because I too have been searching for ‘Maldive Fish Flakes’, having bought the book Serendip! But I live in Kent, & a trip to Wembley is more than I can manage…a pity the author did not include a list of suppliers in the index…I haven’t even found anywhere online that sells them! But I’ll try the fishcakes now I’ve seen your article, I think – thanks…
Well, I guess I should have tried looking a bit harder!…Maldive Fish Flakes are made from dried tuna, and the Japanese have a similar product called ‘katsuobushi’, ‘Bonito Flakes’. There’s an article here that explains that one can be a substitute for the other but you must use a bit more bonito: http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/seaprod.html
Bonito is commonly available in Japanese food stores of which there are many more around than Sri Lankan stores (at least in UK)…
Mark – thanks for the link and for doing the research for me. I have easy access to Japanese shops, having just run out of bonito flakes, which I use for making dashi stock! You can order bonito flakes online from the Japan Centre too! All the best with the recipes…
Helen Yuet Ling