Vasunthara Ramasamy: "There are so many styles of chicken curry; there is even a white chicken curry. If Clarissa cooked that, people would say that that is not a Singaporean chicken curry. So what is Singaporean chicken curry? Do we have one? The consensus is that we can never have a national dish because it is very hard to represent Singapore. But why seek for singularity when you are so diverse? Why do we seek such homogenous experiences with Indian food?" Vasunthara Ramasamy, Culinary Teacher and Masterchef Singapore Season 2 Contestant, shares about feeling pride as a Singaporean Indian ..read more

Preston Wong: "The goal should always be to make the message of sustainability and reducing food wastage as mainstream as possible. What point is there if it is just within that echo chamber of eco-conscious people? For us, we can break that barrier because price is not a big issue unlike other sustainable merchandise that may face challenges of accessibility due to price point issues. I would think that surplus food is a good bridge and show people that things can be affordable, and yet can be good stuff if you look beyond the exterior and short-dated condition of the item." Preston Wong, CE ..read more

Evelyn Yap: “Singapore is not an agricultural country. That limits the kind of produce we get, but also, we don’t know what is out there because our habits have changed to shopping at supermarkets, as opposed to wet markets, which stock more diverse produce.”   Evelyn Yap, chef & founder of Happivore, shares about her journey as a chef supporting farmers, plus: *How Rustic Canyon shaped the way she cooked* *Supporting farmers in Thailand* *How her experience in Thailand has impacted her as a cook* *Exposure to regional produce* *Favourite Asian vegetables* *Mental health* *How her Sin ..read more

Edmund Wee: “We don’t get a lot of chances to form relationships with people in our lives – we’re busy, we’re working. And you have to go shopping for your food. You either shop on Red Mart or the supermarket. Why do those two when there’s a third alternative, where you can do your marketing and at the same, you form relationships. Why not? It is so wonderful! So, it’s a no brainer for me to decide to go to the wet market. It is obvious to me to do so.”   Edmund Wee, publisher & CEO of Epigram Books, shares his insights on the book publishing industry, plus: *Wet market tips* *How Epi ..read more

Christopher Ng: “It is heartwrenching every time I go back to Singapore, because I see the difference. And it is a significant marked difference every year. I try to go to the places that are familiar to me, but even those places are changing rapidly although certain places are still familiar, I wonder how long they are going to last.”   Christopher Ng, the blogger behind Christopher’s Asian Delicacies, shares about his relationship with food growing up, plus: *Lakeview market* *The ungroundedness as an overseas Singaporean* *Kueh lapis* *Agak-agak approach* *The demise of home-baking and ..read more

Khir Johari: “When we look at our understanding of Malay food, it is typically based on a narrow window, and that is the hawker centre. If you get a chance to visit Malay homes (your Malay neighbours or friends), that is where you get to see things that you don’t normally experience… Reading and travelling help to inform, and with that, you’ll come to understand the diversity and beauty of Malay food, and look at it as a very healthy diet. Any food you eat in excess is bad, regardless of your background, ethnicity, or geography.”   Khir Johari, author of The Food of Singapore Malays, shar ..read more

Christy Chua and Tan Aik: “Through my interviewing experience in school or at The Slow Press, I feel that sometimes when we talk to older hawkers or business owners, they might be quite unwilling to share about what they do. Sometimes they would dismiss it as, ‘I do this everyday, nothing new. It’s just normal going to work. I come here, fry some noodles and go home.’ They’d literally tell me that. I’m sure there’s a story but I can’t seem to dig it out of them, and that leads me to think, ‘Are those profiles being featured on mainstream media like Our Grandfather Story? Are those profiles tha ..read more

Christopher Tan: “I think what everyone needs to realise is that we all have a say in how the food culture of our country evolves. We all have a stake, we all have a say, and we are all culture makers. Your national food culture is not something that you should have to order in. It should be something that you stand in, you cook, you practice, and you live out. Your heritage is your anchor, your compass, and your passport from which you go and explore other places, but you hold your passport. I very much hope that the younger generations will take up home-cooking as an activity, as a hobby, no ..read more

Desmond Shen: “We basically tried not to throw anything away, and I think one of the steps to do that is to name the thing by its part, instead of just calling it ‘waste’. If you are trimming carrots, you take away the carrot head, end, and peel – and you call that that. You don’t call it ‘trim’, you just call it ‘carrot peel’. What are we going to do with the carrot peel? What are we going to do with the carrot tops? What are we going to do with the end bits of the carrot… Especially with meat, there are so many parts that you throw away – in a chicken, you have the cockscomb, the windpipe. O ..read more

Sheere Ng: “Our understanding of inmates is they are either repentant or incorrigible. It’s black and white. But I think that the masak shows them to be abit more multifaceted, showing them to be loyal but ill-disciplined, angry but funny as well. I learnt something from trying to understand masak, and I simply wanted to tell that story…” Sheere Ng, author of When Cooking Was A Crime and co-founder of In Plain Words shares about the twists and turns in her career, plus: *How her love for food began* *Her journey into food writing* *Her experience as a food editor of Makansutra* *Working in th ..read more