O Tama Carey

is the owner of Lankan Filling Station. Her first cookbook is Lanka Food. She is a food editor of The Saturday Paper.

By this author


Food August 05, 2023

Apple and honey filo pie

Making one’s own pastry is an admirable skill everyone should acquire. But it can be time-consuming and is sometimes not worth it, especially when it comes to filo. I have been known to make filo and it has been delicious and rustic and oh so satisfying, …

Food July 08, 2023

Lamb mulligatawny

Mulligatawny is a dish I’d heard of growing up. My mum spoke of it – it was a soup her mum made for her when she was sick. As far as I was concerned, it was Sri Lankan and a mythical cure-all soup with an excellent name. Somewhere in my memory Nan …

Food June 10, 2023

Potato and garlic rotolo with anchovy sauce

There are endless shapes and names that fall under the category of pasta, and learning about them, making dough, rolling and shaping is a pastime that can be endless and obsessive. The feel of the dough when rolled to the point of delicate silkiness is …

Food May 13, 2023

Pumpkin kola kanda

I have mentioned this many times before in various places, but I feel that it shouldn’t be understated: I love Asian breakfasts. (“Asian” as a blanket word is not great, particularly in terms of food; however, I do think we can make an exception …

Food April 15, 2023

Beetroot, black pepper and yoghurt ‘cake’

The end of daylight savings signifies a definite shift to our rhythms, the way we feel and the way we eat, whether or not the weather complies. And yes, there is a little chill to the morning air, but I am not entirely convinced that we won’t still …

Food March 18, 2023

Banana leaf baked fish with aromatic coriander paste

Wrapping a piece of fish before you cook it is an excellent way of dealing with its delicate flesh, as it offers a certain amount of protection. Make a parcel of it, add other ingredients and suddenly you have a lovely little package filled with flavours, …

Food February 18, 2023

Tomato tart with thyme, olives and honey

We have a very roomy balcony that, at various stages, has produced a small to mediocre number of edible delights. I have great intentions and visions of the bountiful beauty it could be but, at this moment, even watering it can be a chore. Our intermittent …

Food January 28, 2023

Duck breast with kithul and grapes

With the end of January fast approaching, it’s time to reflect. Have you spent the past few weeks eating and drinking too much? Entertaining and at parties? Dressing up and cleaning up? But even as the silly season winds down and life returns to normal, …

Food January 07, 2023

Beef spring rolls

There is great beauty in cooking traditionally, learning about the flavours and techniques of countries and their dishes, how they came about and their origins. This can be a never-ending process, once you get into it and learn the ways, but it will allow …

Food December 03, 2022

Chocolate salami

We are thankfully living in an age where cultural appropriation is frowned upon, and rightly so, but when it comes to food and cooking, I feel as though the edges are a little blurrier. If you look at any country’s cuisine over the past few hundred …

Food November 12, 2022

Lemongrass pork torpedo wraps

I know it’s not for everyone but there is something about the tactile nature of eating food with your hands that makes me happy. I love having to make a little effort, constructing or building something before the reward of a delicious mouthful. There …

Food October 22, 2022

Mandarin, yoghurt and almond cake

You know how there are some recipes that are so common in your world that you assume everyone knows about them? Like the orange and almond cake. In my mind, it’s so familiar that mention of these two ingredients together instantly conjures a complete …

Food October 01, 2022

Ricotta gnudi with asparagus and anchovy

I was thinking spring thoughts and these delightful, fluffy dumplings came to mind. If you have never had them, think of a cross between gnocchi and a delicate, simple ravioli filling. The mix is made and left to rest in flour or semolina to firm up and …

Food September 10, 2022

Fish curry

When you stop to think about it, the word curry is quite clever – it’s a term that covers an almost endless array of dishes. The flavours it covers range wildly, and traditional versions are found all over Asia and bastardised versions have been adopted …

Food August 20, 2022

Caramelised red braised kangaroo tail with balsamic

Winter’s end is near but there is still time for us to talk about braised meats. Slow cooking has the advantage of being easy: combine a pile of ingredients, add some heat and you’re done. Put a pot in the oven in the morning and, with no fuss, dinner …

Food July 30, 2022

Cardamom and cocoa sponge cake

For most of my life I have very firmly been a summer person. I love being hot, swimming, beaches, tropical islands, barbecues and picnics, glary daytime sun and long sultry evenings. It feels energising. Winter traditionally made me a little grumpy, feeling …

Food July 09, 2022

Mussels in a tamarind broth

Having a few mussel dishes up your sleeve is a very handy thing. They are relatively cheap and easy to source, you can cook them faster than it takes to decide on takeaway and they play agreeably with so many flavours. Go buttery with lots of garlic, …

Food June 18, 2022

Lasagne

One of the things we have learnt in these times of Covid is that lasagne, despite its Italian origins, seems to have made its way into the Australian psyche, becoming a strong contender for a spot as one of our national dishes. We have adopted and bastardised …

Food May 28, 2022

Apple fritole with calvados crème anglaise

Naming dishes can be fraught with danger, especially when you are making up a recipe that hasn’t existed before and is a culmination of techniques and flavours picked from here and there. Calling these little beauties doughnuts feels wrong even though …

Food May 07, 2022

Roasted pumpkin with taleggio cream, sage and curry leaves

The idea of seasons is so important, they indicate change and movement yet are cyclic and are constantly returning. Here in Australia, though, they are somewhat curious, as we live by a European notion of them that has never really correlated with the …

Food April 16, 2022

Deep-fried snapper wings with red curry sauce

I am all too aware that this recipe has the potential to be dismissed. Not only does it use a fiddly, lesser-known cut of fish, but you must also deal with the idea of deep-frying at home. If you are willing to try it, however, the rewards will be great. Let’s …

Food March 26, 2022

Brussels sprout mallung

If you don’t know what a mallung is then please allow me to introduce you. Also known as mallum, it’s a Sri Lankan side dish that is usually purely vegetarian. Like a salad, which can be anything really, so too is a mallung. And like a refreshing …

Food March 05, 2022

Green pie

There is something very satisfying about eating pie in any of its various forms. It’s comforting, usually easy to eat, and often, but not always, better with some saucy bit on the side. The variations are endless; what you put in, the type of pastry …

Food February 12, 2022

Upside-down peach, almond and polenta cake

One of the interesting things about food and eating is how throughout your life your tastes can morph. I spent most of my life blissfully on the fence about the idea of cake. There were some delicious ones of course, but my cravings generally veered towards …

Food January 22, 2022

Smoky eggplant with yoghurt, tahini and seeds

I have a love-hate relationship with eggplants. We had an auspicious start, years of deliciousness, until we hit a rocky patch, in no small part due to me. And, although it’s smooth sailing once again, the memory of that fractious period refuses to …

Food December 11, 2021

Mu-mu cocktail

I love a cocktail. I love the glasses, I love the ritual of making them, I love aperitivo hour and I love nothing more than sitting at a bar drinking them while eating snacks. My go-to is a dirty martini, the murkier the better, although if there is a …

Food November 27, 2021

Raspberry fool

Plump, ripe, fresh-picked berries, still warm with the heat of the sun, are true summer bliss. These fruits have a delicate nature, and are small and vulnerable, needing to be handled with care. I don’t think there are any berries I don’t like, although …

Food November 06, 2021

Spring sourdough spaetzle with peas and things

Apologies, but this recipe does come conditionally: you will need a spaetzle maker; a little obscure, I know, but relatively easy to find and inexpensive. I bought mine on a trip to Italy prior to ever actually having made them. It was autumn, up near …

Food October 16, 2021

Rhubarb compote with fennel pollen

As much as I admire rhubarb, I still think it’s a tricky beast. For a start, it has an identity crisis: it’s a vegetable masquerading as a fruit. Second, its leaves contain high amounts of oxalic acid, which is poisonous. You would need to eat a lot …

Food September 25, 2021

Potato gratin with ricotta, honey and thyme

Potatoes are nothing short of perfect. There is nothing they cannot do, no way they can’t be cooked, and each way is best. A perfectly boiled too-young potato, straight from the ground, is one of the sweetest things I have ever eaten. A crispy hot chip …

Food September 04, 2021

Cabbage cream with cabbage, parmesan and toasted buckwheat

Back in the good old days, when you could move more than five kilometres and make plans in advance, we booked a holiday house for Christmas – 10 days by the beach with a smattering of overlapping friends. Our restaurants were closed, which meant any …

Food August 14, 2021

Clementine marmalade with star anise and black pepper

I love citrus, a family of fruits all with a sour tang and varying degrees of sweetness, their history a tale of hybrids. There were four firsts – citron, pomelo, papeda and the mandarin, the only sweet one – that were mixed and interbred so successfully …

Food July 24, 2021

Mud crab with curry leaf butter

Before you dismiss the idea of cooking crab because you think it’s too hard, please give me a moment to persuade you that it’s not. I think most people will agree the flesh from a crab is delicious. It’s succulent, sweet and slightly salty, with …