When you first meet Meneka Mendis (28) it is her charming and bubbly nature which catches your attention. A former student of Ladies' College, Colombo and born into a family where sport takes centre stage (her father is one of Sri Lanka’s cricket greats, Duleep Mendis), her forte was in the water where she represented her school in water polo, water ballet and swimming. 

Meneka moved to Melbourne, Australia in 2007 for her higher studies where she completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) in 2009 and Master of Marketing in 2011. While reading for her higher studies she played water polo for the Monash Blues in Melbourne and in 2015 represented the Burnley Women’s Cricket team. 

Having qualified in Marketing she set out  into the work force where she worked for Coyote Pvt Ltd (www.thepapare.com) as their Lead Marketing Officer (2010-2012) and also worked as the Group Ticketing Sales Coordinator (2014-2015) for Cricket Australia. 

However it was her passion and love for all things tasty that resulted in her wanting to start her own “at home business” as she calls it, thus ‘MM – Food from the Heart’ was born in July 2014. 

“I found a job but it didn’t feel as though it was enough,” she says adding, “I felt I needed to go out of my comfort zone so I started making and selling my Creamy Chocolate Biscuit Pudding after work and with that, it was like a snowball effect.” 

Meneka then approached a local cafe who liked her Chocolate Biscuit Pudding. She supplies them with a stock of these goodies on a regular basis and has recently started supplying them with her Love Cake as well. Among her repertoire of goodies typical Sri Lankan short eats like Bacon and Egg Pastry, Creamy Seafood Pastry, Stuffed Eggs, Cutlets and sweets like Iced Mocha Loaf, Sri Lankan Chocolate Éclairs, Traditional Milk Toffee, Pineapple Fluff, just to name a few. 

The recipes she uses have been passed down from one generation to the next starting from her maternal grandmother. And having watched her mum prepare these goodies time and time again she was able to pick up the finer points and then produce them all over again in Australia and therefore make a living out of something truly from the heart. 

What started off with a bake sale from her own garage will eventually (around Easter this year) end up with her opening her own cafe in Adelaide. Her journey has been an interesting one indeed, from sports to studies and then working in the corporate world, and now cooking delicious Sri Lankan goodies for Sri Lankans away from home and even for those curious Australians willing to try out what Sri Lankan goodies are all about. 

By Natasha Fernandopulle 
Photographs by Kanishke Ganewatte