The musings of ‘Kothu’ as National brand

by B. Nimal Veerasingham

A YouTube parody song that I watched recently, captures the conversation between the Mission Control and the two astronauts just landed on Mars.

Mission Control:

Have you safely landed?

Astronauts: Yes – No worries – we have brought the packed lunch as well.

Mission Control:

What??

Astronauts:

Yes – in case you want to know – its ‘Pittu’ in banana leaf, with mutton curry, Liver fry, a day-old fish curry, brinjal moju, Katta sambal and omelette.

The people in the Mission Control nod in unison, figuring more gastronomy than astronomy.

At the present times of intense globalization and interdependence of borderless goods and services, where demarcation lines are in unknown territory, the question of ‘National foods’ have become very much muddled. The glory days of TV cooking shows place the presenters and chefs into celebrity status drawing millions of viewers into trying the same in their own kitchens. The TV celebrity Chefs dominate the culinary experiments, fusing regional and ethnic flavours into altogether new food cultures, behaviour, preparation, procurement, and consumption; questioning the authenticity, both sides of the realms. Quite logically, food adventuring leads to new cultures and lands, the print and visual media conjoins culinary tourism with this new ‘unknown’, ‘exotic’ and ‘authentic’ experiment into spinning an industry of its own, infusing center of tourism with novelty food adventuring.

Food Culture

The popularity of food culture, both in the East and the West, bring to light the food adventurer’s accomplishment at having discovered the ‘hidden’, to their own enrichment and pleasure. Jamie Oliver’s ‘American Road Trip’ or Anthony Bourdain’s ‘No Reservation’ or Andrew Zimmern’s ‘Bizarre World’ accomplishes this effort of loosely commodifying, while the original gatekeepers and their lived histories quite often overlooked as to how ownership is identified.

The so-called food patriotism in aligning or claiming to be the rightful owners of a particular food always created an uncomfortable dilemma; sort of bad taste in the mouth, when tracing the origins with impartiality. Italians lead the pack as being the undisputed Global foodies, holding the rightful ownership for pasta to spaghetti and pizza to cannoli, and anything in between numbering more than 100s if not 1000s of delicacies. In the 50’s, Author Prezzolini questioned as to ‘What is the glory of Dante compared to spaghetti?’, continuing, ‘the spaghetti has entered many American homes where the name Dante is never pronounced’. It is very interesting that Dante who is one of the greatest philosophers, theologian and considered as the father of the Italian Language is being compared to mundane palatal taste that is rightfully at times overcomes fine liturgies of human worthiness. The culinary identity to the DNA is so strong that simply dressing like pizza or wearing a chef hat would propagate Italian identity in the Global stage, as witnessed in the recently held Euro Cup.

Pasta and Chicken Tikka Masala

But claiming authenticity is not a straightforward process, but a complicated one. The origins of pasta, as not simply having Asian origins, but born out of Mediterranean melting pot, would certainly bring back protesting gladiators in the streets of Rome. Long before Marco Polo, the so-called pioneer of East-West exchange brought forward the spectrum of pollination regarding starchy pasta versions, there were pioneers from variety of convergences, who made it even harder for the so-called authenticity to carry the day. Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi (10th Century), a member of the Norman King Roger ll’s court in Palermo (Southern Italy) identified pasta as ‘Itriyya’. Interestingly a Jewish Doctor’s medical text in an Arabic journal appeared for the same, two centuries earlier where we now call ‘Tunisia’.

Chicken Tikka-Masala as the national food of UK is another episode of 360° split jump on a gymnastic beam, in this meringue of food spasms. Chicken Tikka Masala, not being a mainstay of continental India, introduced by Bengali chefs in the likes of Shakespearean era Fleet Street Pubs, where culinary tastes are vigorously tested before placed in podium. The past U.K Foreign Secretary’s proclamation on Chicken Tikka Masala as being the National food of the U.K, clearly surpasses the arguments of colonised and colonizer, indigenous or imported.

Chilli’s crowning moment

Chilli-pepper is another mother of all decorum that hits home curry base harder. Who would ever accept that chilli-pepper (capsicum annuum) that matches native peppercorn in heat units, is native to South America and the Portuguese introduced it to the Indian sub-continent in 15th century to create a pungent heat to their profitability? The world’s raw green chili pepper production stands roughly around 40 million tons today, half of which produced in China.

Food pervades a wide spectrum of social, political, and economic discourse, and at times questions the ‘genuine’ or ‘authentic’ labelling by the faithful, while retaining a fundamental relativity and background, many times evolutionary. Anthropologists argue that food is a moral thought, sponsors human contact and permeates nationalist barriers society tries to impose. There is good reason on the merit of the Hindustani saying, ‘Every two miles the water (taste) changes; and every four, the language’.

Wheat loyalists

The influence of wheat in Asian culinary consumption, though second to rice, is phenomenal. Though China and India lead in the production, their populations consume most, as such the West has found a niche export market through their advanced productive methodologies. Imported wheat, though contains less nutrients than rice, has the advantage of providing instant carbohydrate energy with longer shelf life. It provides greater flexibility and exceptional creative maneuverability through its high gluten content.

The use of advanced technology in agriculture production of the West has allowed Wheat to be stored for longer period, to fend off shipping time to far away destinations. Bleaching is a process that greatly enhances this prorogue, which critics points that nutrients are shelved out and put back artificially, a practice banned by regulators in EU.

Sri Lankan timeline

Wheat, also called ‘American flour’ or ‘Godamba’, on the street and households, is so popular though not produced but imported mostly from the West. The first encounter with Europeans at the shores of the Island, records what will become the country’s eventual obsession. The ‘Rajawali’ thus describes, ‘and now it came to pass, in the month of April, in the Christian year 1552, that a ship from Portugal in the Jambu-dwipa arrived…. For their food, they eat Budhu gal (a sort of white stone), and they drank blood (meaning unleavened bread and port wine).

From that accidental encounter with the group led by the son of Governor of Goa Francisco D’Almeida, the obsession for the gluttonous white wheat flour grew beyond the established guidelines of hereditary cuisines. The diversity and influence propagated by the three colonisers on the inhabitants gave birth to experimental fusion of many culinary delights.

The romance with white or bleached ‘American’ wheat is not simply a page marker for the scribes. it could be measured, where the small Island ranked as the 16th largest purchaser from the US markets in the 80s. Along with sprung variety of short-eats or street food, not to mention as an alternative to anything and everything the native rice flour could call shots.

That brings about the invention of the most popular street food of all times – ‘Kothu Roti’ or ‘Kothu’ in short. The glory of ‘Kothu’ (Meaning chop in Tamil) and it’s burst into variations and reinventions as a highly acclaimed food fusion, wholly, or being a side dining enhancer, has mostly resulted with the spread of Diaspora to all corners of the Globe within the last five decades.

Kothu’s humble beginnings

In the 70’s, one of the grand culinary experience the streets of Colombo could offer is the grandiose ‘Biryani’ – mutton, beef, or chicken of your choice, specialised by the Muslim eateries. The experience is though compact and not on quantity, was a delicious burst of contrasting gustatory sensations – fluffy steaming, sometimes intermittently coloured rice, fried chicken, boiled egg, green chili\onion\cilantro sambol, pickle, cucumber salad. It did safely transition above a notch, outside the everyday home experience.

But something else was brewing in the 70’s in the East, initially as an experiment, most likely through the influence on the exposure and convulsion of fine gastronomical creativity. Or maybe an accidental decoction of natural elements already found in the days’ cooking. ‘Veechu Roti’ (Veechu means ‘throwing/stretching in Tamil) is made from the ‘Godamba’ or ‘American flour’ is a great puller by itself without any chopping. Freshly made thin and stretchy ‘Veechu Roti’ with thickened mutton/beef gravy is a transitional experience by its own then. So, its natural that someone decided to mix both factors together, to make it as an alternate to ‘Biryani’ to snare the taste buds. The brightly lit, flat hot iron plate or griddle where the ‘veechu roti’ was made, has multifunctional dimensions; first to divide the massaged glutenous flour ball into equal portions with generous amount of oil, stretch to the limits and toast it in folded flat square shape.

The American flour’s highly glutinous content allows the stretching to paper thin size. Then use the same flat base griddle to mix the diced roti with egg, onions, green chilli, spices, curry leaves, choice of available vegetables and of course generous amount of mutton/beef/chicken curry, with plenty of gravy. The melodious sound bite, at times at the discretional musical personality of the ‘Kothu Chef’, arising from the banging or chopping of the metal cleavers over the griddle, evenly flip the semi soggy mixture. The sound bites also served as a marketing tool inviting the passersby. It also served as a barometer to the larger neighborhood, as to how young or dead the night is, to have a late snack or a forum with friends.

In the 70s, any youngster living at Batticaloa would scrap the last cent out of his pocket to have the ‘Kothu’ delight at ‘Rasheediya’s’, ‘Hadjiars’, Hotel de Paris or many other in the suburbs, without a blink. The richness of Batticaloa ‘Kothu’ then, was derived from the aromatic explosion of the mutton/beef curry, deeply seeped, and thickened in array of spices. Only the richness of the curry will carry the ‘Kothu’, and nothing else. Literally there was no unsaturated pieces of roti, but fully soaked in aromatic gravy. On top of it, you will be given an extra small dish of gravy to soak it further. To enjoy it with full senses, it must be eaten by hand to say the least, because a fork won’t hold that swampy mixer on the first place.

‘Kothu’ became the choice of meal while travelling on the Batticaloa night train to Colombo during the same period. At a time when travelling by bus with accommodative dinner stops to Colombo is unheard of, a 10-hour train journey starting at 8.00PM needed fuel for the commuter. The ‘buffet’ compartment is hardly reachable due to the absolute crowding, besides it had mostly bread and tea on the top list. As a result, quite logically, Night mail train as it was called then, provided another experience of smelling the aromatics arising from the ‘Kothu’ parcels consumed everywhere from compartment corridors and floor. Those who studied or worked in Colombo during that time, searched in vain to experience a similar feast of the senses in the Capital city, until they are back home by the Batti ‘Kothu’ labs.

Kothu in the world stage

Today the humble ‘Kothu’ has exploded into creative culinary variations with fine dining experience, mostly where the diaspora has expanded its roots, due to the availability of diverse sources for the base-curry. Iddiyapa Kothu, Pittu Kothu, ‘Kudal Kothu’ (Intestine), Liver Kothu, Seafood Kothu, Dolphin Kothu, Chilli-chicken Kothu, Tandoori Kothu, Poutine Kothu, Calamari kothu, Shawarma Kothu, just to name a few. Literally the choice and richness of the curry dominates the outcome and satisfaction of the consumer. Roti at this stage only functions as an enhancer of the experience.

There are many commentators, critiques, restaurants, and eateries highlight the ‘Kothu’ as a Sri Lankan street food in the Global culinary scene, everywhere from Europe, North America, Australia to Asia. The Indian observers sometimes compares this to South Indian ‘Kothu Parota’, though varies mostly on the richness and fiery intensity of the Sri Lankan curry base.

From its meagre beginning, the growth of ‘Kothu’ in some ways compensates the decline of Tea from its glory days as the national showcase, though not in anyway directly compared. The times of the boomers are getting out of steam, while the affluent generation ‘X’rs, ‘Y’rs, and millennials are in full force, willing to adventure newer creations to upsurge exotic experiences from culinary realms. The servings of ‘Kothu’ at Wedding receptions to 5-star hotel buffet menus, trade exhibitions to summer picnic tables, reiterates its earned place, tested by fire, of course. This is not in any way interrelating territorial dimension with handed down traditions. As a commodity of sensory delight in the global culinary theatre, ‘Kothu’ highlights the elevation of Sri Lankan unique food experience. Like the Italian spaghetti and the UK’s Chicken Tikka Masala, its evolution from the fusion of imported ‘American flour’, with its own rich and fiery curry brand has created a symbol easily associated with and traced to Sri Lanka. Thanks to the pioneers who wouldn’t have dreamt or envisioned, but the ‘Kothu’ has become the national brand of Sri Lanka in the world stage.