Chefs: Healers of the next generation

by Anushka Nanayakkara

Like mother like son. The first thing that took me off guard was his green eyes. The women in the village where his grandmother was born were referred to as women with beautiful eyes. No wonder she passed it on to her daughter and from her to her son.

The sweetly-smiling amiable Chef - Channa Dassanayaka, the author of "Sri Lankan Flavours", is now the Sri Lankan food Ambassador to the world, won the prestigious award 'Gourmand WorldCook book of the year for foreign cookery books", first time ever opening the gate way for Sri Lankan cuisine to expose our flavoured ingredients in a desirable way and turning them into novel and local mouth-watering recipes.

Without stopping from there he was able to mark Sri Lanka in the world cookery map with his initial book which tempts any local or foreign food lovers to take a trip down the memory lane of "Sri Lankan Flavours".

He will be taking you all to visit street markets, road side and cafes which offer simple food and with the villages where still the cooking is carried out in claypots over wood fires, all we could dream is a amazing culinary excursion full of traditions and Channa makes this dream a reality for all food lovers.

What's the difference he has made in the world of food? Channa's recipes attracts not only the taste buds of the food lover but also the health conscious as well. Born and bred in Colombo, yet he always had the passion for villagers, he got the chance to venture in conventional food because of his grand mother.

After getting his education in D.S. Senanayake College, Channa kept his hands on cooking by joining Ceylon Hotel School and from there he moved to Australia with his mother and opened 'Woodapple' in high-end Chapel Street, Melbourne and built up a very strong, zealous and steady cliental.

In the year 1997, Channa took a vivacious step by returning to mother land and meditated in a Theravedic Buddhist Ashram for a year. To a question that I asked, I remember he said that he practices Buddhism but with the essence of yoga.

For this young Chef, cookery and yoga always played an equally significant role in his life to give out something new and creative for the world. At one end he was a teacher in yoga for a wide expanding audience and from the other end he was experimenting yet an experienced teacher concerning local dishes.

The "SBS TV's Food Lovers Guide to Australia" shows Channa as 'the most peaceful Chef ever' and Member of Australia's Victorian Government has portrayed him as a 'terrific role model for young Australians'.

Channa is a 'Man of art with peace in his hands' and I'm sure the rest of the world would agree with me especially who have followed his holistic philosophy and tasted his luscious spicy dishes, which always signify our heritage. I think that's why he always highlights Sri Lanka to the world as the "ultimate food destination".

Is professionally becoming a Chef a well recognised and a well paid job? Channa thinks that its a profession which always carry a fare share weight of dignity and is more like a visa which opens the way to fly over to any part of the world, the reason he sees behind it is the job openings and prospects that occur in the hospitality trade. According to him all that it takes is the passion for the industry.

Though Channa has been away from the country for the last few years his aim and goal has always been to promote Sri Lankan cuisine to the world.

In between the interview one of the journalists asked what he thinks of the western, mediterranean, chinese food? "The techniques of making all dishes are very interesting and there is always new things to learn" he said.

The best example I could recall out of what he gave is "We Sri Lankans have a tan complexion and won't we feel more comfortable offering something of our own instead of something foreign to ourselves?

Imagine if a foreigner makes our food, wouldn't we have second thoughts about tasting a new recipe?

It goes the other way round as well, to help our country economy, to help our own ladder towards prosperity we should first show the colours and flavours of our country to the world, that's where we will be comfortable with and have always been".

The final question was, what his plans were, and advice to young Chefs? Channa is currently focusing on his second book as well and is planning to be an active citizen hoping to hold hands with the Ministry of Tourism and 'Tharunyata Hetak' to lift the treasures of our country one of which he considers as the hospitality industry.

Channa lastly said that he sees "Chefs as the next generation healers". Which makes me add a final note for our readers, in the year 2007 while his Holiness Dalai Lama was on tour in Australia, Channa got the opportunity to cook for him as well, isn't that itself enough to be proud of our young Chef who is making miracles using local ingredients.

(The book "Sri Lankan Flavours" is now available in all leading book shops).

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