Regional variations don't seem to exist in Sri Lanka any more: it seems too small now to have anything that's uniquely from an area. You can eat Chilaw Crab curry anywhere in the country and no one - not even the cook - even knows it's from there. Wherever you go, the improvements in roads and the spread of supermarkets means that everyone makes everything pretty much the same way.
But when we set out to travel or eat, we want to see something different. That's why we were excited about visiting Jaffna. We knew its isolation from the rest of the country meant that it had developed an uniquely indigenous cuisine. (see the article on Green Grass Hotel and Restaurant Jaffna for more) What we were surprised to find was that it had also developed an uniquely indigenous ice cream.
Our friend who introduced us to this ice cream told us that, during the war, lack of access to sugar meant sachcharine had to be used to sweeten ice cream. So the ice cream here tastes...different. Creamy, yes, sugary, yes, but...different. If you want to try out this out, the best place to go is the Lingam Cream House in Jaffna. It's bright, it's airy, you can sit down and eat the ice cream. It is also, from what I understand, the best hostess gift you can take to a meal in Jaffna.
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It's available in flavours possibly too multitudinous to count. It reminds me a bit of how the old Aleric's ice cream used to taste like. It tastes nothing like Cargills or Elephant House. Most of all, it's different. Different isn't always good. But, in this case, it's great.
(Click here for more posts about restaurants/places to eat in Sri Lanka)
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