Master Chef, Dr. T. Publis Silva needs no introduction; a household name in Sri Lanka, he is known as the man who introduced gourmet cuisine to the public.
This Celebrity Chef joined Mount Lavinia Hotel in 1957 as a kitchen help and was promoted to the post of cook in 1960 after an extensive training programme in all areas of the culinary field. He has cooked for the late Sir Oliver Goonatileke, Ex-Governor General of Ceylon, and the late Sir John Kotelawala, former Prime Minister of Ceylon.
During the period that Mount Lavinia Hotel was managed by the Hyatt Corporation of USA, Chef Publis received training under foreign cookery experts and was promoted to Assistant Chef in 1972. In 1974 he served in the capacity of Executive Chef at the Beach Cabana and La Lagousterie Restaurant. After a stint as Executive Chef at the Kuramathi Tourist Island Resort in the Maldives in 1983, he returned to Mount Lavinia Hotel in 1984. Currently he serves as adviser to Embadu Resort, Kam Hotel and Summer Island Hotel in the Maldives in addition to being Director Culinary Affairs and Promotions of Mount Lavinia Hotel.
Dr. Publis Silva has organized many food festivals all over the world to promote Sri Lankan cuisine in addition to the many food exhibitions and competitions he has organized in Sri Lanka. He has also visited a host of countries including Japan to introduce Sri Lankan cuisine to some of their chefs.
The master chef entered the living rooms of Sri Lankans after launching cookery demonstrations to the public through the electronic media. He also trains Home Science teachers, students and housewives on Sri Lankan cuisine through regional seminars. He is in the forefront in introducing new Sri Lankan food preparations and is working on the standardization of Sri Lankan food preparations.
Chef Publis entered the Guinness Book of Records by cooking the largest and longest Kiribath (traditional milk rice) with 1020kg of rice and presenting it on a 600 ft long table. The accompanying 'Katta Sambol' (a combination of red chillies and onions) that weighed 240kg was pounded manually by 12 chefs.
This versatile chef has not restricted himself to cooking, he has also published books based on cooking; in 1992 he released 'Sinhala Bhojana' and in 2004, 'Helaratawata Ivumpihum', introducing traditional and novel Sri Lankan dishes. Among the many awards he has won is the Presidential Award for 'Exceptional Individual 2007' at the inaugural Presidential Travel and Tourism Award Ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat in 2007.
Countries where Mount Lavinia Hotel has organized Sri Lankan food festivals include India, Pakistan, England, China, Switzerland, Singapore, USA, Monaco, Belgium, UAE, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Bahrain, France and Indonesia.
| View Traditional Sri Lankan Recipes | |||
1. Chicken Chatty Roast |
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5. Squid head curry |
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2. Dressed Crab |
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6. Chili mixture |
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3. Blackened Shark curry |
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7. Prawns thel dala |
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4. Fish Ambulthiyal |
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Website: www.chefpublissilva.com
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