SRI LANKAN TIME WARP
The Hill Club in Nuwara Eliya is located in a Sri Lankan time warp, taking guests back to the heydays of Ceylon’s colonial tea-planting era. The Hill Club may be anachronistic, but it enjoys a jovial ambience and has (or had) a more than generous bar steward.
Its food, however, is not a lot to write home about -- and never has been according to comments made in the club’s voluminous Complaints Book, which dates back to 1884, some seven years after the club was established.
“16th April, 1884: I came to breakfast at 11.30 and could get nothing to eat so had to order a tin of mushrooms. H. Montague Philby”
“20th September 1891: Nothing to eat for early tea, asked for herrings – “None”, asked for ham or sausages. Butler replied ‘Chief Clerk taken store key and gone out’. Quality of food at breakfast and dinner on 19th most inferior – even the pepper and toothpicks are musty. Chas. H. Bagot.”
My favourite entries were made in 1914, when on February 10, a positive comment was made by ten members:
“The management deserves great credit in the excellent dinner tonight.”
This, however, is followed by the remark of another member who wrote:
“I don’t remember a great dinner.”
I hope the lapse of memory was the fault of a generous bar steward.
My thoughts turned to Montague Philby, Chas Bagot and other long gone planters when I attended a very lively Gala Centenary Dinner at the Nuwara Eliya Hill Club in late 1977. Overall the food lived up to the club’s standards -- the highlight being a rather dry roast turkey, served with a fruity Slovenian Welsch- Riesling.
Here is the Hill Club chef’s recipe for the tasty cauliflower with coconut sauce, which accompanied the turkey that night – a vegetable dish that saved the bird and therefore deserves recognition.
CAULIFLOWER WITH COCONUT SAUCE
1 can of coconut milk (400 ml)
1 cauliflower, florets separated, stalks sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped finely
2.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
¼ - ½ teaspoon chilli powder (according to taste)
¼ teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
Serves 4
Its food, however, is not a lot to write home about -- and never has been according to comments made in the club’s voluminous Complaints Book, which dates back to 1884, some seven years after the club was established.
“16th April, 1884: I came to breakfast at 11.30 and could get nothing to eat so had to order a tin of mushrooms. H. Montague Philby”
“20th September 1891: Nothing to eat for early tea, asked for herrings – “None”, asked for ham or sausages. Butler replied ‘Chief Clerk taken store key and gone out’. Quality of food at breakfast and dinner on 19th most inferior – even the pepper and toothpicks are musty. Chas. H. Bagot.”
My favourite entries were made in 1914, when on February 10, a positive comment was made by ten members:
“The management deserves great credit in the excellent dinner tonight.”
This, however, is followed by the remark of another member who wrote:
“I don’t remember a great dinner.”
I hope the lapse of memory was the fault of a generous bar steward.
My thoughts turned to Montague Philby, Chas Bagot and other long gone planters when I attended a very lively Gala Centenary Dinner at the Nuwara Eliya Hill Club in late 1977. Overall the food lived up to the club’s standards -- the highlight being a rather dry roast turkey, served with a fruity Slovenian Welsch- Riesling.
Here is the Hill Club chef’s recipe for the tasty cauliflower with coconut sauce, which accompanied the turkey that night – a vegetable dish that saved the bird and therefore deserves recognition.
CAULIFLOWER WITH COCONUT SAUCE
1 can of coconut milk (400 ml)
1 cauliflower, florets separated, stalks sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped finely
2.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
¼ - ½ teaspoon chilli powder (according to taste)
¼ teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
Serves 4
posted by antwerpalan | 17:57
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