A Portuguese pitstop
Finding a bit of Sri Lanka: Chinese rolls, mal biscuits and the room with a mosquito net
Travel, to me, has been a great source of inspiration, curiosity, and connection to a wealth of worldly knowledge and insights. Travel has also proved to be more beneficial in its teachings than a standard education received in school throughout a decade.
I am grateful for the profound impact that travel has had in shaping outlook and behaviour, the real-life and first-hand experiences it serves, the valuable minutiae picked up in a passerby’s conversation, to even learning of the healing effect of a frog’s secretion on a sore throat. (The apocryphal origin of the medieval phrase ‘frog in the throat’ which I came across in a hop-on hop-off bus in Shakespeare village, the same source from which I learned the origin of the phrase ‘annual bath’).
My good fortune has allowed me to visit cities in Cambodia, England, France, Gibraltar, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and Wales.
One of the more recent marks made on my scratch map is the grossly underrated country of Portugal, a hidden gem in the Iberian Peninsula. To a Sri Lankan, Portugal holds a special place following colonisation and the residual effects seen and felt in the history and culture of Sri Lanka thereafter. Until my enlightening trip to Portugal, little did I know, nor had any interest in, the impact that the leagues of Portuguese explorers had on the globe, be it the discovery of land and cultures or cuisine.
In reflection, the trip inculcated a deeper sense of affinity to Portugal and, more importantly, heightened and broadened my radar and interest of Lusophones. (A random and interesting fact again – in the past, Lusophones had their own institution of games just like Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games etc.)
For someone coming from a country that was affected by the Portuguese presence over a span of 150 years, my fragmented knowledge of the coloniser’s influence extended only to lexical borrowings in the colloquial Sinhala vocabulary. These included words such as school, stoops, shoes, shirt, table, etc. where there are at least a thousand words with Portuguese etyma1, our last names; De Silva,Fernando, Perera, etc. Their important role in bringing spices to the world was also somewhat familiar to me.
Porto, the more historically significant city I covered in Portugal, was my port of entry. (Random fact — it was in Porto that J.K. Rowling conceived and gave birth to her masterpiece Harry Potter). One of the first experiences here was navigating my way through a crumbly and charming old house that was in fact a “walauwa” in vertical orientation- it was a conscious choice made on AirBnb. Each step of the four floors of stairs I negotiated to my room (with 30kgs of luggage), creaked all the way. There I was greeted by a huge key in the lock that became the heaviest object in my backpack in the days to come.
Upon entering my room, one couldn’t help being transported centuries back in time or at least be reminded of a trip made to a colonial house hidden away somewhere in Sri Lanka. This room was adorned with similar furniture and fixtures I am accustomed to seeing in my own home. However, the object of greater fascination was not the almirah nor the chest of drawers, but a feature that was reminiscent of childhood – a mosquito net suspended over the vintage bed.
I can’t help but think that this is yet another introduction made to Sri Lanka during the Portuguese occupation although not an invention of Portugal. Mosquito nets were used in ancient times by common folk as well as royalty including Queen Cleopatra. The use of mosquito nets was common in Japanese households dating back to the Edo period which is successive of the time Japan saw a lot of Portuguese movement on its shores, thus fuelling the curiosity of the origins of the local mosquito net even further.
Food becomes an essential part of the experience on a trip made overseas, and this trip had its fair share of nostalgic and ‘aha’ moments. Ever wonder why there is the random batter fried seafood and vegetable fritter dish in the otherwise very healthy Japanese cuisine? The origins of Tempura are derived through the dealings Japan had with Portuguese traders and missionaries at the port city of Nagasaki in the 16th century. Throughout time the dish has evolved to become a favourite staple that is offered on Japanese menus.
Eating iced gem biscuits (or mal biscuits ) is somewhat of an inane excitement growing up while the memory of this simple pleasure ebbs away with age. It was indeed pleasant to find these ‘gems from the past’ in an unassuming bakery I chanced upon in the town of Fatima. Known locally as beijinhos, they were an accidental invention of the British biscuit company Huntley and Palmer that made its way around the world to many countries such as Sri Lanka and Singapore where they are not only highly favoured by younger folk but have now become part of pop culture.
The most indistinguishable items of food I came across in cafes and bakeries were Chinese rolls and triangles, albeit known locally as salt cakes. They are as ubiquitous in Portugal as they are in Sri Lanka. Even the other items on the shelves hark back to the quick visits made to The Fab, Perera & Sons or Green Cabin and the like. It was also amazing to see the less commercial Gnaanakatha make occasional appearances throughout my trip -I was too excited to find out the local name for it.
In the commercially historic and vibrant city of Lisbon, I was able visit the famous A Ginjinha store to sample the cherry liqueur that Lisbon has become synonymous with, which eventually came to be a cherry-on-the-top moment. While downing the shot of the warm liquid containing the alcohol-infused Morello cherry, I could not escape the thought that this drink was near identical to another concoction that is served in Sri Lanka on special occasions such as Christmas and birthdays, especially at senior relatives’ parties. The colonial Portuguese brought with them items of comfort to their outposts where the natives of the conquered land also benefitted from its use. I would like to think that Ginjinha had a similar fate in Sri Lanka post-Portuguese era where the lovi fruit replaced the cherry and is consumed as what we now know as lovi sherry. Cultural imperialism talks about the enforced adoption of habits, customs, and practices in the countries of occupation and to a certain extent even proselytisation, but if my guess is right, I am sure that Ginjinha was one of the exceptions to the norm where it was welcomed with open arms.
A significant question asked here, is not only the extent of how much transformation the Age of Discovery has put in motion throughout the world, but how many of these transcultural exchanges made their way back to Portugal through its vast maritime networks. Was it only physical goods being traded? One can look to the dwindling ethnic group of the Sri Lankan Kaffirs or speak to the descendants of Japanese slaves who now reside in Brazil, to answer this question. This is why one is compelled to ask the more pertinent question about a possible Sri Lankan colony in Portugal today? I guess this question warrants another trip to Portugal and is left to be answered until then.
(Compiled with references to academic and other sources)