Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the table

The Sri Lankan meal is not divided into starter, main course, and dessert. At the heart of the plate sits a mound of rice (bath), surrounded by a constellation of small curries — one of fish or lentils, two or three of vegetables, a spicy coconut sambol. You mix everything with the fingertips of your right hand, blending sweet, spicy, and sour in each mouthful. Sweets and tea close the meal or punctuate the day separately.

Ceylon gave its name to true cinnamon, finer and sweeter than Chinese cassia. Alongside it, goraka (Garcinia gummi-gutta), a dried fruit almost black with a sour-smoky taste, serves as both a souring agent and a natural preservative in the island's fish curries.