Kuala Lampur, July 2 -- KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 - There are cuisines that travel neatly. They lose a little heat, gain a little polish, become easier to explain.

Jaffna food is not one of them.

At Sri Lanka's northern tip, where the land is dry, the sea is close and the palmyrah trees seem to hold up the sky, food has always carried its own accent.

It is briny, muscular and unapologetically specific: crab stained red with roasted chilli, sharp sambols, dried fish, tamarind, black pepper, fenugreek, smoky curries and bowls of kool thickened with odiyal flour.

A recent trip back to Jaffna reminded me that the best meals are rarely announced with fanfare. They arrive in seaside homes, roadside stalls and small kitchens where nobody has both...