I associate the yellow glow of everyday, Tungsten, household lighting at dusk with a party. Every room of our house radiated with it in the early evening when my parents were entertaining—a stark contrast to a typical night when the lights would not be turned on unnecessarily so as to conserve money, (not the Earth, yet). The house was made as bright and welcoming as possible in anticipation of our dinner guests. Glowy yellow light in my room, making the 6PM sky out my window deeper blue in contrast. Warm bulbs shining above the bathroom mirror as my mom hurried to shower, a half hour later than she hoped to get in. Me in a sunshiny, frilly dress. And the rice was yellow too.
For auspicious occasions, say, if people were coming over for the first time in the new year—and the goal was to see all the people most important to you as close to January 1 as possible—”yellow rice” was at the centre of the menu and table. The rice cooks in a liquid scented with cardamon, cloves, fennel, coriander and cumin seeds and tinted with turmeric. The perfume is full of promise, especially as it mingles with that of the specifically chosen accompaniments. As I child I never noticed that certain dishes only appeared alongside yellow rice. But when asked if I should include a particular dish or two in this issue, my mom was definite: “No, you never make that with yellow rice. You serve that only with biryani.” I will share those with you in the relevant issue. Here, though, in “SRI LANKAN YELLOW RICE FEAST”, ISSUE 010 of Le Sauce Magazine you have everything you need to make a celebratory yellow rice feast and I hope you find every reason to. Get it here: lesauce.com/app
