Elizabeth Haigh
Born
Elizabeth Allen

May 1988 (age 35)
Singapore
EducationCentral St Martins
Westminster Kingsway College
SpouseSteele Haigh
Children2
Culinary career
Rating(s)
Current restaurant(s)
    • Mei Mei (kopitiam in Borough Market)
Previous restaurant(s)
    • Pidgin
    • Smokehouse
    • Kitchen Table
    • Royal Oak
Television show(s)

Elizabeth "Liz" Haigh (née Allen,[1] born May 1988)[2] is a Singaporean-born chef who competed on MasterChef in 2011, and went on to win a Michelin star at the Hackney-based restaurant Pidgin. Haigh currently operates the kopitiam Mei Mei at Borough Market.

Career

Born to a Singaporean mother and an English father in Singapore and raised in Maidenhead,[3] she trained as an architect at Central Saint Martins in London.[3] While there, she realised that she preferred to cook, and was dared to apply to appear on the BBC television series MasterChef.[4]

The 2011 series was her first experience of cooking outside of her home or for her friends. She was eliminated early on in the series.[5][6]

Haigh decided to pursue a career in cooking, and started to work at a gastropub called The Green Oak in Windsor[7] She then moved to the Royal Oak, Paley Street, where she came under the influence of head chef, Dominic Chapman.[8] While she was working there, she attended culinary classes at Westminster Kingsway College. Haigh also worked at Neil Rankin's Smokehouse restaurant.[9]

In 2015, she co-founded Pidgin with James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy, following on from their supper club, the Secret Larder.[10][11] Shortly after Pidgin was awarded a star in the 2017 Michelin Guide, she left.[12] She set up a company called Kaizen House, under which she originally planned to launch her own restaurant Shibui in 2018. The restaurant was planned to feature wood fired cooking with elements from different cuisines.[12] Having delayed opening the restaurant due to concerns about the economic climate,[13] she opened Mei Mei, a kopitiam in Borough Market at the end of 2019.[14][15]

Plagiarism allegations

Haigh published her recipe book Makan in May 2021.[16] The book was withdrawn by the publisher Bloomsbury "due to rights issues"[17][18][19] in October 2021 after Haigh was accused of plagiarising recipes and anecdotes from Singaporean author Sharon Wee's 2012 Nonya cuisine recipe book Growing up in a Nonya Kitchen.[20][21] The book was also found to have plagiarized from other sources including the food blog Rasa Malaysia[17] and a Singaporean cookbook published in 1981.[22] Singaporean company Anthony The Spice Maker also found directions on how to use two of the spice blends listed in Mei Mei's online catalogue being 80% similar to their own while conducting a market research.[17] Recipes are generally not protected by US or UK copyright laws as list of ingredients and basic instructions to reproduce the dishes are considered factual. However, directions and other content may have copyright protection as they are considered "substantial literary expression."[23]

References

  1. ↑ Morris Omori, Naomi (8 August 2019). "Interview with ELIZABETH HAIGH". The WOW Magazine. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Elizabeth HAIGH - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 Butter, Susannah (8 February 2017). "Chef Elizabeth Allen on going it alone: 'Cooking is the easy bit'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "MOB Meets… Elizabeth Haigh".
  5. ↑ Allen, Elizabeth (10 June 2016). "My Smoky Duck Was Too Smoky for Masterchef". Munchies. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Allen, Elizabeth (22 September 2011). "The Modern Chef, a blog by Elizabeth Allen". The Staff Canteen. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "PROFILE: Elizabeth Haigh, chef owner, Shibui".
  8. ↑ "Sister act: Elizabeth Haigh on her long-awaited solo restaurant". 13 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Elizabeth Haigh: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)".
  10. ↑ Gander, Kashmira (22 September 2017). "Chef Elizabeth Haigh on Clean Eating and How to Cook the Perfect Scrambled Eggs". The Independent. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  11. ↑ Jenkins, Tom (12 November 2015). "What It's Like to Quit Your Indie Band and Become a Restaurateur". Munchies. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Chef Elizabeth Haigh to open Shibui in London". The Caterer. 15 June 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Sister act: Elizabeth Haigh on her long-awaited solo debut restaurant". bighospitality.co.uk. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Elizabeth Haigh, Chef and Restaurant Owner". RESY London. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Jimi Famurewa reviews Mei Mei: A wholly addictive act of cultural celebration". London Evening Standard. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  16. ↑ Haigh, Elizabeth (2021). Makan recipes from the heart of Singapore. London. ISBN 9781472976505.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. 1 2 3 Ho, Olivia (12 October 2021). "Ex-MasterChef contestant Elizabeth Haigh's cookbook Makan pulled after S'porean author Sharon Wee claims plagiarism". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  18. ↑ Hansen, James (12 October 2021). "London Chef Elizabeth Haigh's Cookbook Withdrawn After Plagiarism Allegations". London Eater. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  19. ↑ Krishna, Priya (29 November 2021). "Who Owns a Recipe? A Plagiarism Claim Has Cookbook Authors Asking". New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  20. ↑ Flood, Alison (11 October 2021). "Former MasterChef contestant's book pulled amid plagiarism accusations". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  21. ↑ "Michelin star chef faces criticism over plagiarism claims". The Independent. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  22. ↑ Dorall, Anne (12 October 2021). "UK Michellin-Star Chef Accused Of Stealing Singaporean Recipe On Rasa Malaysia Food Blog". The Rayat Post. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  23. ↑ Heil, Emily (11 October 2021). "Publisher pulls Singaporean cookbook 'Makan' amid plagiarism allegations". The Washington Post.
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