Dine It Forward

Dine It Forward is a series of fundraising events for Palmera Projects.  I had the pleasure of taking part in the first Dine It Forward in a series of special meals. Rubin from Palmera Projects informed us that the idea of Dine It Forward is to bring groups of friends together over a Sri Lankan style meal. Sri Lankan style food is not very well known in Sydney, so the purpose was two fold to make people aware of Sri Lankan food and raise money for the Palmera Projects.
Palmera Projects is totally run by some very dedicated volunteers, most of whom I met on the night. I was very inspired by their passion. The projects they run are to help people in Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Indigenous Australians.  Their mission is to develop an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to humanitarian aid to promote health, education and income creating initiatives to marginalised communities in Australia and Asia. Dine It Forward's focus is to raise money for the Rice Mill Project. A rice mill processes raw rice into edible rice. The project will be directed towards specifically selected beneficiaries, primarily women in the community, who will be provided with a combination of a grant and loan to establish, train and begin operation of the rice mill. The mill will be located in Manthai West region of Mannar.

The chef for the night was Paul Van Reyk, if you ever get the chance to hear him talk about Sri Lankan food he was extremely informative and entertaining. I could have listened to him all night! Paul gave us a history lesson on Sri Lanka and how the food has been influenced over the years by travelers and colonists.  To give you a very brief over view of what I learned! Originally the people of Sri Lanka were hunter gatherers they mainly smoked or dried their food. Then around 700 bc Sri Lanka started to be colonised by people from Northern India. They brought with them spices like ginger, coriander, turmeric. They also brought flat breads and sweets. Sri Lanka was originally attached to the main land this brought people from Southern India. They brought coconut and dosai, and probably other things which I now can't remember! 
Sri Lankan food has also been influenced by the Arabs who would trade, one of them was rice. China would also trade in Sri Lanka though not so much of their influence remains. Then along came the Portuguese and they brought with them tomatoes and chilli. The heat in food before this was made with pepper. Of course the British colonised Sri Lanka and brought with them variety, as they insisted on Roast Beef, porridge and other food not really suited to the hot climate!
So, yes a very informative evening! So if you want to learn more and go along to an dinner or get the kit to do your own, head to their website - www.dineitforward.org.au Remember that you will be dining so others can dine too!