Food For Thought: Pol Boy
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Food
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: POL BOY
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Words by Luc Hinson
Artwork by Tom Shotton
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Thuli Weerasena is the mind behind Pol Boy, a monthly supper club that draws on his heritage and upbringing. Pol Boy is a medley of Thuli’s Sri Lankan-British upbringing, through this supper club Thuli shares part of his identity, part of his being with his guests. Currently based out of the Brixton Pound Cafe, Pol Boy aims to bring the flavours and values of Sri Lanka to the streets and mouths of London on a monthly basis. We caught up with Thuli to talk about why he set up Pol Boy, his upbringing and the role food can play in bridging cultures, languages and borders. The next supper club falls on June 8th, grab a ticket here
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BB: Thuli, thanks for sitting down with us can you tell us what pol boy is?
Pol Boy is a food concept that uses my British-Sri Lankan upbringing as inspiration. I put on a monthly supper club at Brixton Pound Cafe so that I can share my food memories growing up and the flavours of Sri Lanka with Londoners.
BB: Why now, why did you decide to set it up now?
When I first moved to London, a Sri Lankan restaurant opened up that was getting a lot of hype and was even appearing on Best Restaurant lists. This was crazy as I didn’t know anyone that had even tried Sri Lankan food when I was growing up.
I went with my family to the restaurant and we were pretty underwhelmed. The food didn’t remind us of home. Everyone else I spoke to who went loved it though and loads of my friends were going to Sri Lankan on holiday. I even started seeing “Sri Lankan” ready meals on the shelves in supermarkets. Most people thought Sri Lankan food was the same as Indian food back in the day and now they know it’s not.
Around the same time I also realised that I was very disconnected from my Sri Lankan heritage. Like a lot of immigrant kids, I shunned the culture of my motherland in order to fit in. So, I started cooking Sri Lankan food to reconnect with my culture. The growing popularity of Sri Lankan food also meant that I now had a platform to start doing something with the food I grew up eating - so that’s when I started to do the supper clubs.
BB: Is your identity reflected in your food?
Definitely. Growing up I used to experience two or three different cultures often in the space of one day. I didn’t know it at the time but I was code-switching as a result and still do now. My food code switches to reflect the different cultures I grew up with. Some of it is very traditional Sri Lankan home cooking. Some of it is a mash up of British and Sri Lankan flavours. Some of it is just based on stuff I like to eat like the ginger nut ice cream sandwich that I have on at the moment. All of it will appear on same menu so that’s why I like to say the food code switches throughout the evening at one of my supper clubs.
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"HOME IS WATCHING SRI LANKA PLAY CRICKET ON THE TELE WITH MY DAD. HOME IS ALSO CHEERING ON ENGLAND AT FOOTBALL WITH MY MATES IN THE PUB."
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BB: can you describe a typical sri lankan dinner, what would we see hear and taste?
A typical Sri Lankan dinner will involved at least five or six different curries sometimes up to nine dishes. They are usually served with rice, roti, or string hoppers - a flat noodle pancake. Coconut is in almost everything from the coconut oil and milk used to make curries to scraped coconut in sambols. Everything packs a punch for sure. Even the mild dishes have chilli in it. Yet if you take a mouthful of everything then you get a perfectly balanced bite of food. It’s certainly no meat and two veg. Everyone shares the dishes around the table and chatter away. There’s always a matriarch doling out the dishes and asking if you want more of something. Even if you say no, they’ll still give it to you and say you’re looking too skinny.
BB: What is it that makes food so effective at bringing people together?
Food brings people together because it reminds you of family. Most people’s first encounter with food comes through their mum. It’s not surprise that countries with amazing food cultures are usually very family orientated. Places like Italy, India, and Sri Lanka - food and family are the two most important things and it really shows in the culture and cuisine.
BB: Can food play an important part in integration?
For sure - I think if people of different backgrounds sit down and share a meal together then they are bound to find something they have in common. My mum’s neighbour is an old white guy who lost his wife recently. My mum regularly goes round to his house and drops off a parcel of food for him. They don’t really have much in common apart from living on the same street but you can see it means a lot to him.
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BB: What does home mean to you?
Home is watching Sri Lanka play cricket on the tele with my dad. Home is also cheering on England at football with my mates in the pub.
BB: What’s the biggest obstacle to integration in Britain right now, and how can we overcome it?
Ignorance and fear. I’m not really sure how we can overcome it. Everything is painted in black and white and it splits people into warring camps. I guess the first thing to do is to try and get people talking to each other who normally wouldn’t.
BB: What’s the first thing you think of when I say Britishness?
Chips with curry sauce.
BB: What are your hopes for Pol Boy in 2019?
To consistently put on great events and make a name for Pol Boy on the London food scene. I’d also love it if Romesh Ranganathan came to one of my supper clubs because he is a don.
Instagram: @Polboy.ldn
Supper club: https://www.eatwith.com/events/42451?date=2019-06-08
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