Getting to the heart of the ‘Hungry Monkey’
Pix courtesy Hungry Monkey
Delicious food made with fresh ingredients and love is the secret behind this young entrepreneur, Chadini Fernando, who is slowly making a name for herself in the culinary industry. Cooking was never her forte, however she has soon brought her catering business, ‘The Hungry Monkey,’ to a whole new level.
“I worked in advertising for about four years and then year before last I was in-between jobs and I started cooking just out of boredom,” Chadini tells us. Sooner her friends started to ask her for more food, as she tried out new stuff and served it to them.
The Hungry Monkey was born soon after, in June last year (2016).
Chadini first decided to put up a stall at ‘The Hive’, a variety market. “It was just a fluke, I decided to try out a few pastas and see,” she explains adding that she didn’t even have a logo at the time. She quickly put a few things together and started selling them at the market. Her food sold out in a couple of hours. This and the positive feedback which she got, edged her on.
It was definitely a challenge for her to step into the culinary world, because she had no background in cooking and was completely self taught, she tells us. When she first started off, it was “nerve-racking”, and, in each case it was her asking herself, “ is anyone even going to buy my food ?” But through time, she got more used to it.
“It’s the response from people which drives me to do what I do,” she tells us adding that while she does love feedback from her friends, it’s always nice when a random person walks up to her and buys her food for a second time and gives her good feedback. “That makes me happy and that’s what’s made me want to keep doing it.”
The Hungry Monkey is a home based business, and the food is made to order. So Chadini doesn’t really buy her ingredients in bulk. If an order is made she literally has to go and purchase the items to be prepared. “The only stuff I keep at home are the ones that are long lasting, like flour etc. So it costs me a bit, because you have to account for the tuk money and all that,” she explains.
Aside from this, while her mum and help at home chip in at times with the cutting and the prepping, the actual cooking is done by her alone.
What’s with the name ‘Hungry Monkey’? we ask her, to which she replies, that she’s always liked monkeys and elephants. “Hungry elephant didn’t sound all that great, but Hungry Monkey had a better ring to it,” she says with a laugh.
Since her first run at the Hive, Chadini has come a long way. She also served her food at the “Colombo Design Market” and also the “Fairway market.” She is now an approved vendor at the “Good Market.”
Her business which initially started off with pastas and a few soups etc, has ventured out into food such as a prawn and chicken paella for parties and other events. She is also experimenting with some vegan dishes, which she hopes to offer to people with special dietary requirements.
“I mostly research for recipes online, then I kind of make it and after that I amend it according to how I want it,” she explains adding that she also uses her grandmother’s cookbook, which she tweaks to her taste. “The bechamel sauces and the white sauces for the pasta were all my grandmother’s recipes.”
Venturing out on a new path is tough and Chadini realizes that just like her, there are several other home cooks and bakers making their way into the industry and that makes it hard for her to stand out. “Right now the dishes I’m doing, for example the pastas, everyone else is also doing. But I want to move on to more interesting dishes this year, like the paella , I know that no home cook offers that at the moment,” she tells us.
Chadini
Chadini firmly believes in quality over quantity and that’s why she uses fresh ingredients. Even her pastas come with more cheese in them. “I want to continue, to give the best that there is to give rather than to make a profit per se.”
As our interview comes to an end, she tells us, her dream is to one day own a little boutique hotel with a tiny cafe downstairs.Possibly by the beach. “I just love cooking, I kind of find it therapeutic in a way and I just like trying out new stuff and different dishes.”
| Ordering from the Hungry Monkey is quite simple, contact Chadini via Facebook on www.facebook.com/thehungrymonkey.sl/. She only requests that orders be placed five hours early for the food that is on the menu. Furthermore a minimum of two days notice is required for party platters, snacks and appetisers. Food could either be picked up or delivered (charges apply). |
