According to the 2012 Census, 73.6% or 24,412 Burghers also spoke English and 38.4% or 12,738 Burghers also spoke Tamil. Culture Burgher culture is a mixture of East and West, reflecting their ancestry. They are the most Europeanised of the ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Most of them wear modern contemporary clothing, although it is not uncommon for a man to be seen wearing a sarong, or for a woman to wear a sari. Several elements in Burgher culture have become part of the cultures of other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. For example, baila music, which has its origin in the music of 16th-century Portugal, has found its way into mainstream popular Sinhalese music. Lacemaking, which began as a domestic pastime of Burgher women, is now a part of Sinhalese culture too. Even certain foods, such as love cake, breudher, bol fiado (layered cake), ijzer koekjes (iron cookies), frikkadels (savoury meatballs) and lamprais, have become an integral part of Sri Lankan national cuisine. Burghers are not physically homogeneous. It is possible to have a blond, pale white-skinned Burgher, as well as a Burgher with a very dark complexion and black hair, a Burgher with complexion from brown to light brown and black hair, and a Burgher with fairer complexion and black hair. Pale-skinned and dark-skinned children can even appear as brother and sister in the same family of the same parents. Burghers share a common culture rather than a common ethnicity. Burghers have a very strong interest in their family histories. Many old Burgher families kept stamboeken (from the Dutch for "clan books"). These recorded not only dates of births, marriages and deaths, but also significant events in the history of a family, such as details of moving house, illnesses, school records, and even major family disputes. An extensive, multi-volume stamboek of many family lineages is kept by the Dutch Burgher Union. Individual families often have indigenous European traditions reflecting their specific family origins. Burghers of Dutch origin sometimes celebrate the Feast of Saint Nicholas in December, and those of Portuguese-Jewish origin observe customs such as the separation time of a woman after childbirth (see Leviticus 12:2-5), the redemption of the Firstborn (Pidyon ha-Ben), and the purification bath (taharah) after a daughter’s first period (see niddah). Most of the latter Burgher families, being unaware of the Jewish origins of these customs, have given them a Catholic slant. (Catholic and