Lankan baker wins best baguette in Paris

Published

4 weeks ago

May 14, 2023

editor

A Paris baker of Sri Lankan origin said he “cried” when he heard he had won best baguette in the French capital this week and would be delivering the bread to the presidential palace.

“I cried because we are foreigners and we came here to learn how to make traditional French bread,” Tharshan Selvarajah told AFP on Thursday.

“I am very happy to have won the prize.”

Fifteen baguette connoisseurs on Wednesday selected Selvarajah’s version of the iconic French bread as the best among 175 anonymous contenders.

Members of the jury, including six ordinary Parisians, had to rate dozens of baguette on their taste, crust, crumb, air bubbles, and overall aspect.

“Don’t drink at the start or you won’t be able to make it to the end of the tasting,” Paris official Olivia Polski warned judges before they started.

A video she shared on Twitter shows her then ringing up the baker based in eastern Paris to tell him the good news.

“Noooo,” he can be heard saying on the other end of the line.

Selvarajah told AFP he always makes his long loaves “with love”, while “smiling, laughing and singing”, and the result is well-cooked, delicious and crusty.

He has won 4,000 euros (more than $4,300) and the opportunity to supply baguettes to the presidential palace.

“I’m so happy that the president will taste my bread. Just taking it to the palace is exciting,” he told AFP.

UN cultural body UNESCO awarded the baguette world heritage status in November last year.

Source – AFP

Region named for mandarin cultivation

Published

16 hours ago

June 8, 2023

editor

The Ministry of Agriculture has decided to establish a mandarin orange cultivation zone in the districts of Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla.

Although oranges are already cultivated in these areas, there is a high demand among locals for imported mandarins which leads to the loss of significantly high cost.

With tests proving to be successful, it has now been decided to take measures to provide funding to locally cultivate mandarins.

Minister of Agriculture – Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed ministry officials to take measures to establish mandarin cultivations within this year itself.

GoSL inks petroleum agreement with RM Parks

Published

17 hours ago

June 8, 2023

editor

Following the recommendations of the Cabinet Appointed Special Committee, an agreement was signed between the Government of Sri Lanka & RM Parks Inc., in collaboration with Shell for a long-term contract for the importation, storage, distribution, & sale of petroleum products in Sri Lanka, the President’s Media Division states.

The contract agreement has been signed a short while ago at the Presidential Secretariat, the PMD adds.

BIZ

SriLankan CEO forecasts USD 50 mn. profit in 2024 (Video)

Published

2 days ago

June 7, 2023

editor

SriLankan Airlines is expecting passenger traffic to surpass pre-pandemic levels by year-end during its peak travel period, thanks to a boom in tourism.

In an interview with Channel News Asia (CNA), Nuttall said that he expected a ‘stronger outlook’ for next year, with matters gradually returning to normalcy in terms of the country’s economy and its tourist arrivals.

“Assuming that the world stays the same for the year ahead, which we expect, and the Sri Lankan economy is rebounding, tourism is coming back, we’re forecasting perhaps a 50 million profit next year”, he said in this regard.