it’s not everyday that you get @sumasaara for review and man am i lucky that this is one of those days. these guys have popped up at shell beans, who does a great sprite by the way, and i am very intrigued. i am an asaara kind of person. in fact, last friday, i had a very decent asaara with rihaakuru dhiya and baiy from moon cafe – THE place for dhivehi keun in male.

anyhow, the guy behind the counter gives me a taste of the asaara and it knocks me out! i have to have it. they give me one for review (thank you) and as thakuru’s b’day is tomorrow, i gift it to him. but on the condition that he tells me in detail what he thinks and he agrees.

we’re out on the balcony and thakuru is on the verge of being half a century old. i’ll be exactly that in ten years and it moves me to ask him what that feels like. so that i may be prepared.

‘good question,’ he responds. ‘we should meet again to discuss this.’

curious man.

‘but tell me, do i have much to learn?’ i say before i can help it.

‘you’ve got the basics covered,’ he responds.

wow. to have thakuru think of me in this fashion. it is almost or –

‘btw, i need to get some of that rihaakuru,’ says thakuru, interrupting my thought.

and this rihaakuru, let me tell you, is by all accounts stellar stuff – handmade with care and love by an old man in raa atoll whose domineering, magalomaniacal wife (my cousin) treats him like absolute shit. they have been married for almost half a century.

‘husenfulhu? did you hear me?’ says thakuru.

‘ah yes,’ i say, touching down on firm ground again. ‘i will tell my mum to ask our cousin today. you’ll get it soon, no worries.’

thakuru pays our bill and off we go.

‘tell me your thoughts, your exact thoughts!’ i call after him.

later, after i’d settled into bed for a light nap, i get a text from him.

‘i’m having it with rice, canned tuna, masmirus and crap sauce.’

‘what?’ i bark on text.

‘oh, i meant CRAB sauce.’

‘what the hell’s that?’

turns out it’s a very ‘asian flavoured’ sauce, whatever that means. and it’s available at fantasy.

‘oh and some sesame seed oil that’s toasted, not smoked, from a shop near odegalla,’ says thakuru. ‘a very simple meal.’

‘but what about the asaara?’

‘i’m getting to that,’ he says, not irritably. ‘it’s got nice, crunchy carrots and real balanced sourness – the dates and honey really come in handy here. the heat can hit on first bite but it gets subdued later on, as other flavours appear on the stage.’

‘wow, great review, man.’

‘oh, and my daughter is eating it like ice cream.’

how about that?

‘she remembers it from a year back,’ he continues. ‘this was good enough to have made a lasting impression on her.’

so, there you have it, a cook’s thoughts on sum asaara, and it’s fucking good.