A grandma and grand-aunt- inspired cooking adventure
View(s):- The Minority Taste YouTube food channel is Ruzaina Hadgie’s love letter to local cuisine
By Duvindi Illankoon
Whatever you do in front of Ruzaina Hadgie, don’t call Sri Lankan food ‘simple’.
Ruzaina is the face of The Minority Taste, a YouTube channel dedicated to showcasing Sri Lankan cuisine. Having watched one too many a visitor describing the food they had eaten in the island as ‘so humble’, she laughs, “I decided to take matters into my own hands. Sri Lankan food is anything but humble and deserves to be talked about properly.” The Minority Taste is Ruzaina’s love letter to a cuisine that is complex, delicious and storied.
Introducing her to local Malay cuisine: Ruzaina with her grandma and grand-aunt
Growing up in Sri Lanka, Ruzaina was often puzzled by a gap that she observed in food media. The Sri Lankan Malay dishes that she had grown up eating, prepared by her grandmother and grand-aunt, were largely absent from TV. As YouTube and other social media platforms took off and travel vlogging became mainstream, she noticed that the Sri Lankan dishes showcased were one dimensional and limited to the standard buffet fare. “What you see out there is a drop in the ocean of all the dishes that Sri Lankans from all walks of life have grown up eating.”
She first posted to The Minority Taste channel in 2018. Her journey since then has taken her to all corners of Sri Lanka in a quest to spotlight dishes loved by generations across communities.
As far as food origin stories go, Ruzaina’s is a little unusual. When she was a baby, Ruzaina’s family were based in Kuwait because her parents were professional chefs at the Salmiya Holiday Inn. When her mother was briefly hospitalised with an infection, her father – the Head Chef- had no option but to take baby Ruzaina to his workplace while her mother recovered. “So of course, I grew up to be interested in food!” she says.
It was with her grandmother and grand-aunt in Sri Lanka (where she eventually grew up) that Ruzaina really honed her childhood love for food. Her grandmother had no qualms about introducing little Ruzaina to a wide variety of dishes, even asking her to check for salt as she was cooking. Ruzaina remembers feeling very accomplished for her knack for tasting things; she was a child with “a sharp tongue” and voracious appetite.
As an adult, Ruzaina refined her appetite while travelling the world as a flight attendant in her early twenties. As cabin crew in business class, she sampled a variety of cuisines and learnt about different cultures. This only strengthened her love for Sri Lankan food, she explains. The more she travelled, the more awe she felt at the taste profiles and variety in her home country.
Through her channel Ruzaina speaks about Sri Lankan dishes that she grew up with, and the ones that she is newly learning about. Each video she posts is a labour of love. Food is so strongly linked to identity and history, explains Ruzaina, that she feels a strong sense of responsibility towards getting her facts right. She researches each dish with assistance from friends in academia, and connects with new contacts to expand her knowledge. She thinks this is why her channel has gained popularity, garnering attention from international creators like Mark Wiens and Trevor James (The Food Ranger). “Some people think that I have made a monopoly for myself talking about Sri Lankan food but that’s just not the case. Other creators do their research when they want to partner – I just think that when you showcase the truth, something that’s authentic, you get noticed.”
Cooking Sri Lankan cuisine in the five star Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre hotel
Sometimes she ends up in the crosshairs- after all, you can’t please everyone on the internet. It’s the negative response she occasionally gets for talking about Sri Lankan Malay cuisine that takes her by surprise. Malay food has been a part of Sri Lankan culture for many years with a strong hold on popular meals- for example, pittu and watalappam are both considered Sri Lankan Malay dishes. “The beauty of Sri Lankan food is in the give and take between different cultures,” says Ruzaina. “When you see Malay food being included in a video about Sri Lankan dishes, and you get upset, it means that history and influence is slipping out of memory.” Ruzaina considers preserving this knowledge that she received from her grandmother and family, and taking it beyond Sri Lankan shores, as her duty.
Now that more Sri Lankans are using different mediums to highlight food, she feels less pressure. She is a long-time admirer of Dharshan Munidasa’s efforts to highlight quality Sri Lankan produce, and sees a new generation of young cooks coaxing out new flavours with bold techniques, like the team at GINI Restaurant in Colombo. Last year, two home cooks dished up familiar meals on Masterchef Australia, while Sri Lankan restaurants have been popping up in cultural capitals around the world to positive reception. Ruzaina remembers a time when it was mildly controversial in her social circles to see her take foreign visitors to roti joints; “I’m glad we’re moving past that now. People are not afraid to invest in Sri Lankan food.”
When Ruzaina takes a vlogger or chef on a food tour now, she understands that she has a responsibility to showcase the diversity of food and flavours. When she first started out, she was laser focused on Sri Lankan Malay cuisine- “that’s what I felt most confident to talk about”- but now she has taken feedback to account, and researches thoroughly to showcase staples from all communities in the island. She has taken a step back from her own platforms in recent months to honour commitments to collaborate with other vloggers and lead private tours for food industry veterans. But she plans to return soon, saying “there’s just so much to talk about when it comes to Sri Lankan food.”
What does her grandmother think of all this? Her grandmother is Ruzaina’s biggest supporter and a treasure trove of knowledge, she says, adding “of course, she also thinks I’m not doing enough! She’s always suggesting new dishes and reminding me about something I’ve missed.” It’s her grandmother’s dismay at seeing traditional dishes dwindle from memory that keeps Ruzaina’s passion strong. “She’s happy that I’m keeping
Sri Lankan Malay dishes alive in my small corner of the internet. For me, that’s the best seal of approval.”
Searching for that next furry family member but couldn’t find one in your area? Hitad.lk has the solution with our extensive listings of dogs for sale in Sri Lanka!