Jungle Notes.
Field notes from the tropics.
A growing reference for the ingredients we work with — kithul, young jackfruit, cobra chilli, palm sugars — and the techniques to use them. Written for cooks who want to know what they’re cooking with, not just how to cook it.
Latest from the notes
Recently added.
How to Store Palm Sugar So It Lasts
A handy guide for keeping your palm sugar as fresh as possible for whenever you need it.
How to Store Palm Sugar So It Lasts
A handy guide for keeping your palm sugar as fresh as possible for whenever you need it.
How to Prep and Cook Cassava Safely
Important, life-preserving instructions for preparing and cooking cassava.
How to Prep and Cook Cassava Safely
Important, life-preserving instructions for preparing and cooking cassava.
How to Pick the Perfect Pineapple
A guide to picking the perfect pineapple every single time.
How to Pick the Perfect Pineapple
A guide to picking the perfect pineapple every single time.
The Glossary
Tropical pantry, explained.
Kohila
A jungle vegetable with no English name.
Jackfruit
The largest tree-borne fruit in the world.
Cobra Chilli
Fruity scotch-bonnet-style chilli grown on Sri Lankan smallholdings.
Nutmeg
Volcanic-soil nutmeg from the Banda Islands. Warm, sweet, faintly piney
Ash Plantain
Sri Lanka
Similar to a potato but with a subtle banana undertone.
Moringa
The leaf with more iron than spinach. Mild, grassy, cooks like kale.
Coconut
Fresh-scraped, never powdered. The base note of Sri Lankan home cooking.
Finger Millet
High-iron, gluten-free grain. Nutty, earthy. Centuries old, suddenly trendy.
How-to Guides
Practical guides for the pantry.
How to Store Palm Sugar So It Lasts
A handy guide for keeping your palm sugar as fresh as possible for whenever you need it.
How to Prep and Cook Cassava Safely
Important, life-preserving instructions for preparing and cooking cassava.
How to Pick the Perfect Pineapple
A guide to picking the perfect pineapple every single time.
How to Peel and Prep Taro Without Itching
A simple guide to preparing taro so that your hands don't itch and your throat doesn't burn.
How to Open a Coconut Without a Cleaver
A handy guide for breaking open a coconut to get at the water and meat.
How to Make Ceylon Tea the Sri Lankan Way
A guide for making Ceylon Tea the way they've made it for centuries in Sri Lanka.