July 23, 2021
Aven Lau, chef de cuisine at Bâtard, talks about how he got into French fine dining despite having no experience, and why he loves black truffles.
South China Morning Post
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.”