Rambutan

Cynthia Shanmugalingam Press Reviews

With her vivacious writing style, enhanced by images of her ancestral homeland and its people, Shanmugalingam's energetic narrative and tasty recipes offer readers a veritable feast for the senses...Rambutan is a cookbook to be savored for its abundance of accessible recipes and celebration of Sri Lanka's joyful food culture. It invites readers to experience the fascinating trajectory of one family's culinary history. - Shelf Awareness, starred review

' Curry Everything says the title of the curry section in this delicious book. To which I reply: Bring it on! But that's not all. Cynthia also takes us on a journey through the stories and memories of her family to decipher the rich oral tradition of Sri Lankan cooking. This book makes me hungry to travel, explore and eat new things, especially curries.' - Yotam Ottolenghi

'Cynthia's gorgeous book is full of the sorts of recipes, stories and images that burst with soul and personality, it's impossible not to fall in love with her and her food. The honesty, humor and generosity of spirit that flows from each page is a true gift to anyone who reads it' - Alison Roman

'This book is a thing of great beauty and heart. The food jumps out at you with a promise of deliciousness. I want to cook every single recipe' - Anna Jones

'Rambutan is a joyous book, stuffed with tantalising food and beautiful writing. Cynthia's recipes and reminiscences speak with warmth and heart and soul to the experience of those of us with roots elsewhere, of growing up feeling slightly displaced, of having to come to terms with different cultures' - Shamil Thakrar, Dishoom

'This book is a diamond in the rough: a proper (and honest) insider's guide to Sri Lankan home cooking via Cynthia's kitchen. I picked up this book for the food, but I'll treasure it forever for the stories' - Meera Sodha

'Passionate, beautiful, eye-opening & totally engaging. This is a book I struggled to put down, not just for the incredible photography or delicious sounding recipes but the storytelling around family and history which cements this as one of those books you need on your shelf' - Ravneet Gill

'The vivacity of storytelling, of spices and the freshest produce grown in the sunniest of climes is poured into recipes that beguile and transport the cook if not to Sri Lanka then at least to the kitchen' - Jeremy Lee, Quo Vadis

'Rambutan takes us by the hand to Sri Lanka, a tantalisingly delicious cookbook filled with spirited tales, cooking knowhow and tender family stories' - Lara Lee

'Full to the brim with bright, vibrant, colourful recipes. I love this book and want to cook and eat my way through every page!' - Skye Gyngell

'For those of us in the Sri Lankan diaspora food remains one of the principal ways in which we remember the country of our birth. Cynthia evokes memories of grandmothers grating coconuts, kitchen fires that seemed to burn all day and, most of all, the sharing and the talking around a table laden with food' - George Alagiah

[Shanmugalingam] offers recipes from across [Sri Lanka], all illustrated with vivid photographs that capture intense tropical colors of dishes both savory and sweet...Shanmugalingam's recipes reflect the diversity of Sri Lanka, home to Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian religious traditions, each with its own inventories of favorite and forbidden foods. - Booklist

'A mix of memoir, travelogue and stunning photography - shot through with tantalising recipes from lacy egg hoppers to her mum's Jaffna lamb curry' - Waitrose magazine

'Mouth-watering recipes for curries, sambols (coconut side dishes) and more' - Delicious Magazine