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That talented home chef next door? She’s on Calioo, app that curates small food vendors in Hong Kong and helps them grow
- Calioo, whose Cantonese name means ‘next door’, gives food vendors a platform to sell their products. ‘Talented chefs are everywhere,’ says its co-founder
- It started in Hong Kong with baked goods, such as Basque burnt cheesecake, before expanding to other products, and stages pop-ups where producers meet customers
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At the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year, many people had to forgo eating at restaurants and make their own food while working from home. Some, like Anjaylia Chan Ho-yi, began making food for others, too.
Since she was a child, Chan has loved to bake. About a year ago, she began making and delivering cakes to her friends in Hong Kong. “I really care about the people around me and, with the pandemic, we were all stuck at home feeling isolated. So I thought of connecting with my friends through cake,” Chan, 27, says.
They really liked her Basque burnt cheesecakes, which are baked at a high temperature until they form a dark brown top, with tea-infused flavours like iron goddess (or tie guan yin), matcha and hojicha.
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“Cheesecake can be heavy and rich, and I use tea to balance the cream,” Chan, who had been working as a management trainee, explains. Iron goddess tea is the more popular flavour, while matcha is for those who prefer the slight bitterness of the Japanese green tea.
Her friends encouraged her to sell the cheesecakes, which have soft, oozy centres like ripe Brie cheese. Chan chose the name Soulgood Bakery as a way to “connect my good food with good souls”.
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