Lankan Filling by O Tama Carey offers a playful, innovative take on Sri Lankan cuisine with over 80 vibrant recipes that blend traditional flavours with modern twists, celebrating the joy of cooking and eating.
For O Tama, there is great beauty in cooking traditionally and playing by the rules, studying the flavours and techniques of a country and exploring their origins.
However, as you delve deeper and master the ways, it becomes easier to swerve and adapt without losing integrity. This is where the evolution of O Tama’s version of Sri Lankan food comes alive.
It celebrates the traditions of Sri Lankan cuisine and weaves in elements from different parts of the world equally, embracing the glorious way of food that is so distinctly and irreverently done in Australia.
In Lankan Filling, O Tama invites readers to join her on this journey, building on her deep-rooted knowledge of Sri Lankan culinary traditions and exploring her diverse and imaginative creations. She shows readers foundational recipes and flavours and explains how to adapt them to create something entirely new.
Each recipe reflects her passion for flavour and her commitment to making food both delicious and enjoyable. From breakfast staples like kade paan and milk buns to an array of snacks, pies and curries, Lankan Filling offers a fresh perspective on Lankan cooking, blending authentic ingredients with innovative approaches.
At its heart, Lankan Filling is a collection of recipes, whether by flavour or idea, that are connected to Sri Lanka but are still distinctly Australian. This book is a testament to the joy of cooking and eating, providing a delicious exploration of Sri Lankan-inspired flavours through O Tama’s unique lens.
O Tama Carey first learnt to cook the food of her Sri Lankan heritage at her mother and grandmother’s side – but began her cooking career quite by accident after landing a job in a restaurant kitchen in London’s Notting Hill.
Since then, she has cooked French cuisine at Bistro Moncur, Chinese cuisine at Billy Kwong, and Italian, of sorts, at Berta, where she was the head chef. In 2018, she opened Lankan Filling Station, her first solo venture in Sydney’s inner-city Darlinghurst. She travels (to eat) as often as she can and writes about food. Her first cookbook, Lanka Food, was published in 2022.
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