Improved security situation: Sri Lankan team willing to visit Pakistan

High commissioner suggests exhibition match between the two World Cup winners

ISLAMABAD: Sri Lankan High Commissioner Nooruddin Mohammad Shahdi said on Friday that after improving the security situation in Pakistan, Sri Lanka cricket team will visit the country.

Sri Lankan people and government look at the friendship with Pakistan with great respect. Moreover, Sri Lankan cricket team former captain Rana Tunga and Premier Imran Khan are both good friends.

He suggested holding an exhibition match between the World Cup winning teams of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Talking to Daily Express he said relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan have grown from strength to strength over the past several years. “We will strengthen ties further through cultural exchange programmes,” he said.

Meanwhile, High Commissioner Shaheid inaugurated a two-day Sri Lankan Food Festival in the capital on Friday. The event was held at Serena Hotel.

Two extraordinary star chefs were invited from Sri Lanka to re-create the extraordinary flavours of Sri Lanka in Islamabad.

Noordeen Mohamed Shaheid said, “There is a saying, the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach. I believe food can help bring people of the two countries together. This is the philosophy that has encouraged us to arrange this festival with Serena.”

The line-up of chefs for the festival is star studded, as Serena Hotel welcomes Senior Chef De Partie Ranaweera who has experience working in many star graded hotels in Sri Lanka as well as several other countries giving him a wide range in terms of work experience.

However, his expertise is still Sri Lankan cuisine and he is very well known by guests who have visited hotels he previously worked in.

He has also participated at the “Sri Lankan Food Festival” organised by the Sri Lankan Consulate General in Karachi in February 2018.

The second chef Rajpakse Gedara Sumanasena also participated in the “Sri Lankan Food Festival” held in Karachi last year.

During his welcoming address, Serena Hotel General Manager Michel Galopin said, “We are delighted to be able to bring internationally flavoured cuisine to Pakistan. Familiarity with other cultures, cuisines and characteristics is a way to experience the rest of the world and Islamabad Serena Hotel is delighted to welcome master chefs from Sri Lanka to bring authentic Sri Lankan cuisine to our guests.”

Sri Lankan cuisine is mix of historical and cultural factors and influenced from different regions including South India, Indonesian and Dutch cuisines. Some of the staples of Sri Lankan cuisine are rice, coconut and spices.

Some basic ingredients and cooking techniques make Sri Lankan dishes hearty and spicy, particularly real cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, curry leaves and chili peppers.

With additional input by DNA

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2019.