It’s all about Japanese | Daily News

It’s all about Japanese

Salmon Sashimi

 

Chef Chamila Lakshitha Perera is the Japanese Chef at Ramada Colombo. Chef Chamila is from Kegalle and went to Seedawatte Siddhartha Central College Wellampitiya for O/Ls and now is settles in UK (Usweta Keiyyawa) with his wife and three sons.

I got the chance to have a little chit chat with him and know about his love for cooking and of course Japanese cuisine.

“I started working with Japanese food in 1996 when I was just a trainee at the hotel school. Then he went to the Maldives in 97 and after 3 years went to Italy to work at Chip Riyani. At that time, I got to learn more about the Japanese cuisine and of the chefs there taught me”, Chef Chaminda added.

“He taught me step by step as they don’t teach you everything in one go. I felt like coming back home due to the learning process but I realized that there is something special about this cuisine and that is why they are very strict about teaching it to people.


 

Prawn Tempura

 

“I worked at the Nonu restaurant in Dubai for the opening, after my experiences there I went to La Meridian Hotel in Dubai in 2007 and it was there that I got a number one certificate for the restaurant. Then I got the opportunity to go to Abu Dhabi to work at Chip Riyani. I was away from the country for 15 years and I returned to Sri Lanka in 2012 after my father passed away. When I came back, I got together with Dimitri from Clique and worked at Aqua and Level”, he added.

Q: How long have you been at the present place?

A: Since December 2015

Q: Why did you want to be a Chef?

A: I like the Japanese food and I want to give good Japanese food to Sri Lankans along with the right sauces to go with them. I am the only in my family that is in this trade. I remember when I was doing my A/Ls my mother said to do what I want as I had good marks for maths. I always used to help my mother in the kitchen, making sambol and other things. My mum gave me money for my A/L maths class and what I did was go and pay for my Hotel School Course (Asia Lanka Hotel School).

After one year, I went and told my mum that there is a vacancy in the Maldives for me to go and work. She was surprised and asked me why I am going when I have exams and all of that. I told her, this is my dream and I want to make money on my own and make food for people.

Q: What do you feel when you are cooking?

A: You get doctors and you get the pharmaceutical people. Doctors prescribe the medicine and the pharmacy guy knows everything about the medicine and how it helps our heart liver etc. My feelings when I cook, is to make people happy and be able to serve everyone. As there are some people who cook and cook and don’t know what they are cooking sometimes and just serve people.

Q: How do you handle a situation when dishes are rejected?

A: Well maybe this particular guest won’t like a dish simply because they are not familiar with the dish or its name but order it instead. So, what you do at that time is go ask what they want and then serve what they prefer. We always put the guests interest first.

Q: Who cooks at home?

A: My wife does and she is a better cook than me!

Q: Where do you hold your best memories?

A: I have worked at the front of the sushi bar for a long time. I remember one day a guy came to the restaurant from a media company. He always wanted to eat Spicy Tuna. The head chef there didn’t like making food that spicy and me being Sri Lankan, I know how much of spice that gentleman wanted. So one day, I made the spicy tuna for him and he was very happy with it and one day, when chef was going to make it for him, he was like, I want that guy (me) to make it. After that, my chef called me and asked me “why you are special…I am the chef…and you are just a boy working here”. I told him that this guest wanted a lot of spice and that’s what I gave. 

 


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