Jessica dishes out her Lankan ties
Jessica presenting her book to celebrity chef Dharshan Munidasa. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Draped in a batik saree, Jessica Heath greets invitees with a warm “ayobuwan” welcoming them to the launch of her first cookbook “CEYLOVE: From Sri Lanka with Spice”. The launch was on April 5 at the Kaema Sutra restaurant at Shangri-la, Colombo.
Based in the United States, Jessica was born to an American father and Sri Lankan mother. CEYLOVE, pronounced “Say Love”, is her 240-page love letter to her heritage and her mother’s homeland conveyed through a collection of family recipes, anecdotes and new twists to local curries as she takes readers through her personal experiences in Sri Lanka.
“Growing up I immediately surpassed baby food and went straight on to the curries!” Jessica laughs. Her culinary journey has been guided by the expert hands of her mother and grandmother who she remarks, are “phenomenal cooks who I’ve learnt everything from.”
Her cookbook isn’t Jessica’s first step into the world of food. The former model was also part of the top 40 contestants of Season 8 of MasterChef USA. Beating 50,000 plus contestants and enduring a five-month audition process, Jessica fondly looks back at MasterChef for catapulting her career. “I was in the kitchen with Gordon Ramsay!” she shares with a chuckle “I guess that’s something to say.”
Her grandmother who was of Dutch Burgher descent passed down many recipes and through CEYLOVE Jessica aims to do justice to the splendour of spices and produce found in the country whilst also trying to enliven forgotten recipes of Burgher cuisine.
Her mother’s family migrated to the United States in the 1960s. “What I think I adore and respect most of all is that they held onto their traditional roots and it was by default passed on to me,” she says, adding “Sri Lanka was always been present in our house.”
“I’m governed by the Sri Lankan spices I grew up on,” she says passionately. “This proved to be a hurdle when it comes to western recipes which lacked the heat found in Lankan cuisine. But you just have to find a way to connect with people all over the world,” Jessica says, adding that she incorporates Sri Lankan spices and ingredients into popular western dishes.
With 97 recipes in the glossy pages of her eye-catching book, Jessica is stumped when asked her favourite. “I get really excited about all the dishes!” even the simplest ‘Wambatu Moju’ (eggplant pickle) and ‘Pol Sambol’ (coconut sambol). Her biggest supporter, her husband Rick weighs in that Jessica’s cooking had him immediately falling in love with spices. One of his favourite dishes was the spicy beef curry she made three months into their relationship. “My friends and I absolutely loved it,” Rick shares adding with a chuckle “I think we cried while we ate it.”
From her signature French- Sri Lankan fusion dish of “Sri Lankan Beef Bourguignon” (which landed her a spot on MasterChef USA), to one of Rick’s favourites, the Dutch Burgher inspired “Bole Curry” to even a remake of the classic custard with Jessica’s “Chocolate Wattalappan” CEYLOVE coaxes vibrant flavours with simple preparation and fresh produce.
“CEYLOVE: From Sri Lanka with Spice” is currently available at all leading bookshops and online at www.ceylove.com