Courtesy of The Sunday Times with some liberties taken in our choice of title
When Deloraine Brohier chanced upon a yellowed manuscript in her late father, renowned scholar Dr. R.L. Brohier’s library, she knew it was a valuable find. In the faded pages were “Rare recipes of a Huisvrouw of 1770’. Another discovery was an old manual dated 1875 which had an article on the culinary arts of the island. Considered an authority herself on Burgher life and customs, Deloraine was intrigued. And so began her effort to document the cuisine of the Burgher housewives handed down over generations in the making of those delicacies such as Bolo d’Amor (love cake), Karmenatchi, Fios, Breudher, lamprais and frikkadels, some of which we still enjoy today. Her book ‘A Taste of Sugar and Spice’– Cuisine of the Dutch Burgher Huisvrouw in Olde Ceylon’ draws on the old manuscripts and her own personal recollections of Burgher family customs and celebrations. Continue reading
