Maldives

My mom is such a good sport! I gave her a list of seventeen ingredients to find before I visited last week, including the difficult to find pandan leaves and tender coconut flesh. She went to Seafood City, an Asian supermarket found in several locations in California, and tracked them all down. For the coconut, she even bought two options, a whole coconut (Carmyn attacked it with a massive knife complaining that she didn’t have a machete) and frozen coconut meat. The whole coconut didn’t have as much meat as we wanted, so we recommend the frozen option. Carmyn and I used these ingredients to prepare a delicious Maldivian meal of vegetable curry https://www.internationalcuisine.com/maldivian-vegetable-curry/ and a coconut dessert that is worth making many times over https://maldivescook.com/recipe/gabulhi-boakiba/

Besides that fun family meal last week, last month I was able to find specifically Maldivian products when I was out with Sheryll at Baja Sub at 8801 Reseda Blvd in Northridge. (As I mentioned in the Madagascar blog, more about this Mexican sandwich place that turned into a Sri Lankan grocery store that carries Maldivian products when we get to Sri Lanka). The first item I picked up at Baja Sub was a tub of Maldive dried fish chips. Those would be useful in this recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/269044/maldivian-mango-curry-recipe/

One of our fellow shoppers told me to also pick up the Maldive fish sambol that I served at California Cuisine with the vegetable fritters from Madagascar (again see that blog). The Maldive fish sambol was super spicy and not everyone dared to try it, but those who did gave compliments. I had expected it to be a sauce, but instead it consisted of hard flakes. I still have half a jar, so I’m thinking of using it in this spaghetti recipe as soon as I can find someone who will eat tuna with me: https://cookeatshare.com/recipes/noodle-maldive-fish-sambol-535599

My favorite of the Maldivian products I picked up that day was the coconut sambol. The coconut was soft, flaky, and so, so spicy! I served it with the vegetable fritters from Madagascar when I made them for the second time and brought Sheryll’s and my family together for a dinner from the Indian Ocean. More recipes from the Maldives can be found here: https://maldivescook.com/

Besides cooking, I’ve been to the Maldives twice in the past while staying at home:

· I remember seeing The Island President years ago. This documentary on Mohamed Nasheed’s attempt to slow sea rise and the threat to low lying islands can be found on several sites including here: https://tubitv.com/movies/454010/the-island-president

· Allan and I watched Chasing Coral on Netflix several years ago and it is still there, discussing the coral restoration projects in the Maldives.

New for this blog I found:

· Dhon Hiyala and Ali Fulhu by Abdullah Sadiq with ill-fated lovers, Maldivian customs, and magic: http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/pdf/don_hiyala.pdf

· “The Maldives—Geologic Paradox,” Episode 28 of The World’s Greatest Geological Wonders of The Great Courses on Kanopy explains how the Maldives were formed.

· Sink or Swim - Learning the Crawl in the Maldives introduces us to third graders and their mothers and takes us from their first experience with swimming to snorkeling through coral reefs: https://vimeo.com/116203309

· Apparently there is a Maldivian Idol because I found a well known Maldivian singer performing for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFRcfaNE4Dc

You won’t be shocked to learn that the best places to visit in the Maldives are beautiful islands: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-maldives/#more-25727

Allan and I would love to go and besides all the diving, I believe we would be picking our resort just to eat at the pictured restaurant! We look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in the Maldives and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Ishan @seefromthesky https://unsplash.com/photos/gtt803WswnA