Sri Lankan markets deserve a film of their own, so we gave them one. This is the off season, when the stalls carry less than they do at the peak and what's left is a good deal stranger.
Shopping in the off-season means fewer choices but stranger and more wonderful ones: jambola (pomelo), woodapple, soursop, red bananas and the endlessly refreshing king coconut. No commentary, no tasting-to-camera, just the real sights and sounds of buying fruit on the island, exactly as it happens.
The one-minute version
The short cut of the same market run: papaya, pomelo and wood apple, picked over in the off season when the stalls carry less but what's left is stranger. They look odd and they taste superb, which is roughly the rule for tropical fruit here. A minute is enough to see why we kept going back.
Straight off the tree
Buying it is one thing. Watching it come off the tree is another.
This one's from Coconut Estate, where we had a first go at harvesting soursop and came away with bananas as well. Soursop is the spiky green one that turns up in the market films, and it's a lot bigger in the hand than it looks on a stall. Filmed on the estate, fruit straight off the trees.
If you're on the island, do a market properly rather than a supermarket. Ask what things are, buy the one you can't identify, and drink a king coconut while you decide. The rest of our southern coast trip is in our Galle story.
There’s more from this trip on our YouTube channel, we film the real sights and sounds, no fluff. You’ll also find us on TikTok and Instagram.