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| Sunday, 25 April 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Shantha Mayadunne : Mixing Pythagoras with cooking by LAKMAL WELABADA Headman Francis Keenawinna was at the dining table meddling with his plate of rice and curry. Keenawinna Menike, his wife noticed her husband's pretence with food but ignored it with a beam on her face since she knew the reason. Being among the respectable and well off families in a village in Yakkala area, the Keenawinna family never had any scarcity of delicious food. But, still for Headman Keenawinna nothing could beat the tasty spicy dish prepared in a hurry by his second daughter which would match with the menu on the dining table. Father always started to eat only after 'Sudu Duwa' brought her 'today's special'. And he might have never expected that his praising word for that tasty preparation would lay a foundation for a well-known cookery expert who is adored not merely by Sri Lankans, but also internationally. She, Shantha Keenawinna who later became 'Shantha Mayadunne' through marriage shared her life story with the Sunday Observer.... "If I am to be credited regarding my expertise I should in the first place worship my dear parents. My mother played a main role in my life who silently set an example to us, all the three daughters by her serene behaviour and through her expert knowledge in cookery," said Shantha. The knack of entertaining relatives, friends and who ever that visited her place with a delicious dish and a drink seems to be in her genes. Also endless experimentation in trying out novel recipes has been part of her daily routine since the time she could reach the fire place in her village home kitchen. Sports and music were the two other things that have been well practised at Keenawinna house. Every child had to learn to play a musical instrument. So free times were spent with melodious tunes played by the 'family band'... "I had a very beautiful childhood," reminisced Shantha. After having her basic education in the village school, Shantha entered to Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, and did maths for A/L s. "Mathematics and cookery are two extremes. But, I think that scientific knowledge helped me in many ways when trying out different recipes. Without blindly adding spices and baking ingredients, I know the exact chemical reaction that will take place in the food," she said. After A/Ls Shantha was staying at her relative's place in Colombo where she got the opportunity to learn many home crafts. Doll making, dress making, batik, flower arrangements, macrame making, bridal dressing, candle making, cake making and cookery were a few to name among the stream of courses she was following with lot of amusement and interest. "I noticed that my cooking was admired by others. Some even encouraged me to start a cookery class. But simultaneously I got a government appointment as a Maths teacher so I did not have time to do so," she said. While teaching Pythagoras theory at school Shantha continued to try out many cookery theories at home. "It was after I got married and had two children that I seriously decided to get involved in the cookery field. I resigned from work since I wanted to devote myself more to my children and husband. So, cookery was a best option for me to adopt as a past time," she added. Shantha has been doing cookery classes for the past 15 to 18 years. After following Diploma courses conducted by many institutions like Wilton Cake School in New York, Chinese cookery from Singapore, Thai food and bakery from Bangkok and Chettinadu food from India, today Shantha is an expert in cookery. She held the first cookery workshop before 1500 participants (both women and men) at the Youth Centre, Maharagama. She has been continuously holding this workshop titled 'Rasa Medura' since 1994. Shantha is the first cookery expert to conduct live cookery demonstration TV programmes on four TV channels in Sri Lanka. She was the first Sri Lankan cookery expert to appear on the internet. In addition, Shantha has demonstrated recipes at many seminars organised by the government for home-science teachers and many other cookery demonstrations conducted by Lions Clubs, Housewives Association and Home-science societies in girls' schools. 'Economical, nutritious, tasty and quick meals' is her theme in cookery. Apart from giving the exact recipe, Shantha introduced easy methods along with tiny hints and secrets in cooking. "When you are a master in little things like that 'cooking' becomes interesting and easy," she said. The students who come to her classes and viewers who attend her demonstrations learn a lot about life along with cookery tips. Shantha has done a lot of research and experiment work in cookery, and introduced many novel recipes to us. She has conducted many workshops in foreign countries as well. 'Rasa Bojun' was her first cookery book published in 2001. Her second cookery book will be published shortly. Shantha's next step will be to revive the old Sri Lankan cookery recipes and methods. I strongly believe that we should teach these to our younger generation since such foods are part of our cultural heritage," she said. |
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