Fresh take on Singapore food heritage
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Delicious Heirlooms by Ms Ow Kim Kit (right) was launched yesterday at the National Library. The book features well-known family food businesses here.
ST PHOTO: TIMOTHY DAVID
Melody Zaccheus
The stories of 10 well-known family-run restaurants in Singapore, some dating back to the 1920s, are featured in a new book called Delicious Heirlooms. They are Fatty Weng, Guan Hoe Soon, Huat Kee, Islamic Restaurant, Ka-Soh (Swee Kee), Ming Chung Restaurant, Muthu's Curry, Sabar Menanti, Samy's Curry and Spring Court.
The author, lawyer Ow Kim Kit, chose businesses that are at least 50 years old as of this year.
The book recounts the sacrifices and hardship that the restaurant founders experienced when they came to Singapore as immigrants who brought culinary influences from their homeland, and how they managed to successfully create "Singaporean cuisine".
The Straits Times Press publication, out in bookstores now, was supported by the National Heritage Board. All proceeds - the book costs $30 before GST - will go to the charity Club Rainbow.
Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, and for Culture, Community and Youth, said: "There is no better time for this book to be launched than at the beginning of our bicentennial commemorations.
"It is a timely tribute not only to our rich multicultural food heritage but also to the many sacrifices our forefathers made to ensure that Singapore continued to progress over the decades."
