Milk wine for food lovers visiting Sri Lanka

Start in Colombo, home of the largest Burgher community and the busiest Christmas fairs. Spend a weekend visiting church fairs for Christmas cake, love cake, breudher and, with luck, milk wine. Order a hamper from a home baker.

Eat lamprais, the Burgher parcel of rice cooked in stock with meat curry, frikkadels, seeni sambol and blachan, baked in a banana leaf. Bakeries and lunch spots across the city sell it.

Visit a hotel for Christmas afternoon tea and ask whether milk wine is served with the cake.

Colombo's markets are worth a morning too. Pettah's crowded streets sell spices, dried fruit, cashews and the preserves that go into Christmas cake, and watching December shoppers stock up for their baking is a lesson in the season.

Negombo, the Catholic town near the airport, is the place for Christmas atmosphere: decorated churches, cribs, processions and midnight Mass. Stay in a family guesthouse for the best chance of sharing milk wine.

The town's fish market, lagoon and seafood restaurants add a different food experience, with fresh crab, prawns and cuttlefish.

Negombo is a good first or last stop, close to the airport.

In Christmas week, Negombo's bakeries sell Christmas cake by the piece, and some guesthouses put out a tray of cake and sweets for guests. It is a relaxed place to taste the season after a long flight.

Galle Fort's Dutch-era streets recall the Burgher households where milk wine took root. Boutique cafes and bakeries sell love cake and breudher, and some hotels revive old Burgher recipes at Christmas.

The south coast also offers excellent seafood and the chance to try toddy and arrack in coastal towns.

Galle is two hours from Colombo by expressway.

Galle Fort's cafes are also a good place to try modern Sri Lankan desserts that borrow from the festive table, such as love cake served with ice cream or Christmas cake trifles, alongside traditional versions.

To understand milk wine fully, follow its ingredients. Watch toddy tappers on the west coast, between Colombo and Bentota, climbing coconut palms to collect sap. Taste fresh toddy.

Take an arrack tasting in Colombo to understand how toddy becomes arrack. Visit a spice garden near Kandy to see cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and vanilla growing.

Then taste milk wine at Christmas, and the whole chain from palm to glass makes sense.

Some cooking schools in Colombo and elsewhere run December classes that include Christmas cake and festive sweets, and occasionally milk wine. Ask when booking.

Lankan Stays & Trails can build a December food trail through Colombo, Negombo and Galle, with fairs, cooking classes, a toddy tapping stop and an arrack tasting, and a driver throughout.

Homestays with Christian families are another way to learn, especially in late November and early December.

Bring an appetite and pace yourself. Christmas food is rich, and milk wine is strong.

Carry cash for fairs and home bakers. Book cooking classes and hotels early, as December is peak season.

Ask questions. Sri Lankan cooks love to talk about their recipes, and every conversation teaches something.

Keep a short food diary. Noting which fair, baker or host made which cake or milk wine helps you remember favourites and makes a good souvenir of the trip.