Profile | Singaporean chef on how Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen introduced him to the restaurant industry, his grandmother’s cooking and why he loves black truffle
- Aven Lau is the Singaporean chef de cuisine at Bâtard in Sai Ying Pun, on Hong Kong Island, and loves the hustle and bustle of a restaurant kitchen
- The 28-year-old tells Bernice Chan how he learned to use ants as an ingredient in Denmark, why he loves truffles and where he learned to run a restaurant
What was your childhood like in Singapore? “My parents were always working so I lived with my grandmother. She cooked every day but was not the best cook. Whenever we ate out or got takeaway food, it always tasted so much better. I kept wondering, ‘What is she doing wrong? Why can’t she make it delicious?’
“When I was nine years old, I started helping her chop vegetables and crack eggs. By the time I was 12 years old, I could crack an egg with one hand. A year later, I went to secondary school and didn’t stay with my grandmother any more and stopped cooking.”
How did you get interested in cooking? “I got a diploma in marketing and, six months later, had to go into national service [in Singapore]. While waiting, I started watching YouTube videos on how to make pasta and eggs Benedict, and began making things at home. For four months before my national service, I worked in a cafe and learned some basics, like how to cook scrambled eggs and make paninis.
“At that time, I was watching Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. That’s how I got to understand the restaurant industry, but no one tells you that you work 16-hour days, six days a week.”
What did you do after national service? “I wanted to pursue a job in the kitchen. I would buy a duck breast from the supermarket and try to cook it. The dishes I made looked good on Instagram, but they didn’t taste good. It was local Singaporean duck and I didn’t know how to cook it, but it was fun.