Jayani senanayake biography of donald

How do our food experts cook and eat? Food blogger and writer, Jayani of Peckishme.com  takes our Q&A!

The most useless and useful item in your kitchen right now?
I’m somebody who LOVES throwing things out so I don’t have a lot of useless things in my kitchen. I do have a grinder that I don’t use much because I have grown fond of the mortar and pestle. The most useful thing? That would be my trusty oven which I use to bake/slow-cook almost every day.

Your favourite odd food pairing? 
Oh, I’m the Queen of odd food pairings. Some of my favourites are Marmite, butter and sugar on white bread, Cheese balls and chocolate balls (the kind with the peanut in the middle), Ice cream and French fries (this one was an accident), a Grilled cheese sandwich with apple, Bacon & Kithul treacle (My take on bacon & maple syrup), Pringles & Nutella, Cheddar and wood apple jam!

Your cooking habit? 
When cooking, my first step is always to defrost. Secondly, I’d clean and chop everything and the last thing I’d do is to get to the actual cooking part. And while the food is cooking, I usually clean up as I go because I want a kitchen that is spick and span by the time I finish. I’m very lazy when it comes to cleaning but the kitchen is somewhere I need absolute order in.

If you could dis-invent a food, what would that be?
Chicken “bacon” and chicken “ham”. Blasphemy! 

Your favourite childhood meal? 
My mother is a fantastic cook and in fact, from my maternal grandmother to all my aunts, I come from a long line of great cooks. So picking one dish would be very difficult. But the fondest memory I have is of the chicken biriyani (we used to call it ‘buriyani’) that my mother makes on some Sundays. My mother was a working woman and I remember Sunday as a sunny, festive, jovial kind of day when she is at home and surprises us with various

The Senanayake family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in enterprise and politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes two Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka.

History

Don Spater from the village of Bothale became a successful mine owner. Making his fortune in graphite mining, he invested in plantations and in the arrack renting franchise. He assumed the name Senanayake and was awarded the title of Mudaliyar by the colonial government. His sons continued his business ventures, and was in the forefront of the temperance movement that transitioned into the modern independence movement led by his sons Fredrick Richard Senanayake and Don Stephen Senanayake following the brutal suppression of the 1915 riots by the British. Don Stephen Senanayake who lead the negotiations with the British Government, was elected the first Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1947, having won the first Parliamentary elections after forming the United National Party. On his sudden death, while in office, his son Dudley Senanayake succeeded him as Prime Minister and went on to server several terms.

Family Tree

• Don Bartholomew
  • Don Spater Senanayake (1848–1907), Mudaliyar + Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake (1848-?)
    • Don Charles S

Peckish Me: The Life Of A Food Blogger 

Jayani Senanayake is a woman of many talents. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in French Language and Culture from the University of Kelaniya and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and is also a reputed writer and poet who has had her work published both locally and internationally. 

And today we meet another side of Jayani, the foodie and author of the food blog ‘Peckish Me’. 

Peckish Me features a series of mouth-watering recipes by Jayani such as ‘goey chocolate muffins’ and ‘creamy prawn pasta’, a few personal stories of her foodie life and several food reviews of some of Colombo’s well known food spots. 

Today on Life Online, we look into the day into the life of a food blogger; 

What is the story behind your blog’s name ‘Peckish Me’? 

Well, for one thing, I’m always hungry!

Hailing from a long line of foodies, food for me has always been more than just sustenance related. But my true obsession with food started way back when I was doing my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Kelaniya. Assignments and exams have a way of making you hungry ALL the time and each of us had our own way of dealing with the stress. Mine was baking. Exam times herald various cravings and most of the time it was cake-related. And baking killed two birds with one stones so to speak. So ‘Peckish Me’ is a tribute to those times when my constant stress-triggered peckish-ness helped me realize my true calling in life. 

What made you start a food blog? 

I love eating, I love cooking and baking and I love taking photographs of my food. And most of all, I love writing about the food that I eat and the way flavours, aromas and textures make me feel. Food for me is poetry. There is a certain sensuality, an immense joy in food that is worth the celebration. The way certain flavours and nuances