Regional Food

We used to stay at a lodge near Arugam Bay in the south-east of the country. It was a place of great natural beauty and host to a most amazing butterfly migration once a year. Thousands of butterflies head inland towards Adams Peak late every year during the North-East Monsoon period when all the plants are green and fresh. They lay their eggs among the thick foliage which provides a constant food supply for the emerging caterpillars. The butterflies come in seemingly endless hordes, winging their way a metre or so above the ground; the migration goes on for hours, days or weeks on end. In home gardens, on the roads, over paddy fields, across irrigation reservoirs, and even inside homes, they flutter like leaves fanned by the breeze. We used to play in the grounds of the lodge and they would stick to our skin.