Elizabeth Haigh
{{short description|Singaporean-born chef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}{{Infobox chef
| name =
| image =
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| birth_name = Elizabeth Allen
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1988|5}}
| birth_place = Singapore
| education = Central St Martins
Westminster Kingsway College
| home_town =
| spouse = Steele Haigh
| style =
| ratings = {{plainlist|
- Michelin stars {{Rating|1|3}}
}}
| restaurants = {{plainlist|
- Mei Mei (kopitiam in Borough Market)
}}
| prevrests = {{plainlist|
- Pidgin
- Smokehouse
- Kitchen Table
- Royal Oak
}}
| television = {{plainlist|
}}
| awards =
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|children=2}}
Elizabeth "Liz" Haigh (née Allen,{{Cite web|last=Morris Omori|first=Naomi|date=2019-08-08|title=Interview with ELIZABETH HAIGH|url=https://www.wowmag.co.uk/archive/elizabethhaigh|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-03|website=The WOW Magazine|language=en-US}} born May 1988){{Cite web|title=Elizabeth HAIGH - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/Qwr97n8BZzXM1JD2zJNqEH0h4zY/appointments|access-date=2020-08-03|website=beta.companieshouse.gov.uk|language=en}} 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, an English father in Singapore, and raised in Maidenhead,{{cite news|last1=Butter|first1=Susannah|title=Chef Elizabeth Allen on going it alone: 'Cooking is the easy bit'|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/chef-elizabeth-allen-on-going-it-alone-cooking-is-the-easy-bit-a3461751.html|accessdate=28 November 2017|work=Evening Standard|date=8 February 2017}} she trained as an architect at Central Saint Martins in London. While there, she realised that she preferred to cook, and appeared on the BBC television series MasterChef on a dare.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mobkitchen.co.uk/life/elizabeth-haigh-interview|title = MOB Meets… Elizabeth Haigh}}
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.{{cite web|last1=Allen|first1=Elizabeth|title=My Smoky Duck Was Too Smoky for Masterchef|url=https://munchies.vice.com/en_uk/article/xym7j4/my-smoky-duck-was-too-smoky-for-masterchef|publisher=Munchies|accessdate=28 November 2017|date=10 June 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Allen|first1=Elizabeth|title=The Modern Chef, a blog by Elizabeth Allen|url=https://www.thestaffcanteen.com/Blog/the-modern-chef-a-blog-by-elizabeth-allen|publisher=The Staff Canteen|accessdate=28 November 2017|date=22 September 2011}}{{Primary source inline|date=October 2021}}
Haigh decided to pursue a career in cooking, and started to work at a gastropub called The Green Oak in Windsor{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestaffcanteen.com/Britain-s-Got-Talent/elizabeth-haigh-chef-owner-shibui|title=PROFILE: Elizabeth Haigh, chef owner, Shibui}} She then moved to the Royal Oak, Paley Street, where she came under the influence of head chef Dominic Chapman.{{Cite web|title=Sister act: Elizabeth Haigh on her long-awaited solo restaurant|date=13 November 2019 |url=https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2019/11/13/Sister-act-Elizabeth-Haigh-on-her-long-awaited-solo-debut-restaurant}} While she was working there, she attended culinary classes at Westminster Kingsway College. Haigh also worked at Neil Rankin's Smokehouse restaurant.{{Cite web|title=Elizabeth Haigh: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/author/elizabeth-haigh/|access-date=10 October 2021|archive-date=10 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010201223/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/author/elizabeth-haigh/|url-status=dead}}
In 2015, she co-founded Pidgin with James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy, following on from their supper club, the Secret Larder.{{cite news|last1=Gander|first1=Kashmira|title=Chef Elizabeth Haigh on Clean Eating and How to Cook the Perfect Scrambled Eggs|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/elizabeth-haigh-how-to-make-perfect-steak-scrambled-eggs-cooking-instructions-tips-ingredients-a7961511.html|accessdate=28 November 2017|work=The Independent|date=22 September 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://munchies.vice.com/en_uk/article/jpavgg/this-restaurateur-used-to-be-in-a-noughties-indie-band|title=What It's Like to Quit Your Indie Band and Become a Restaurateur|last=Jenkins|first=Tom|date=2015-11-12|work=Munchies|access-date=2018-01-07|language=en-uk}} Shortly after Pidgin was awarded a star in the 2017 Michelin Guide, she left. 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.{{cite news|title=Chef Elizabeth Haigh to open Shibui in London|url=https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/505101/chef-elizabeth-haigh-to-open-shibui-in-london|work=The Caterer|date=15 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920235042/https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/505101/chef-elizabeth-haigh-to-open-shibui-in-london|archive-date=20 September 2018}} Having delayed opening the restaurant due to concerns about the economic climate,{{cite web |title=Sister act: Elizabeth Haigh on her long-awaited solo debut restaurant |date=13 November 2019 |url=https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2019/11/13/Sister-act-Elizabeth-Haigh-on-her-long-awaited-solo-debut-restaurant |publisher=bighospitality.co.uk |access-date=21 June 2021}} she opened Mei Mei, a kopitiam in Borough Market at the end of 2019.{{cite web |title=Elizabeth Haigh, Chef and Restaurant Owner |date=23 April 2021 |url=https://blog.resy.com/2021/04/elizabeth-haigh-chef-and-restaurant-owner/ |publisher=RESY London |access-date=21 June 2021}}{{cite web |title=Jimi Famurewa reviews Mei Mei: A wholly addictive act of cultural celebration |date=30 January 2020 |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/restaurants/jimi-famurewa-restaurant-review-mei-mei-borough-market-elizabeth-haigh-a4347956.html|newspaper=London Evening Standard |access-date=21 June 2021}}
Plagiarism allegations
Haigh published her recipe book Makan in May 2021.{{cite book |last1=Haigh |first1=Elizabeth |title=Makan recipes from the heart of Singapore |date=2021 |location=London |isbn=9781472976505}} The book was withdrawn by the publisher Bloomsbury "due to rights issues"{{Cite news|last=Ho|first=Olivia|date=2021-10-12|title=Ex-MasterChef contestant Elizabeth Haigh's cookbook Makan pulled after S'porean author Sharon Wee claims plagiarism|language=en|work=The Straits Times|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/life/food/london-chefs-cookbook-pulled-after-singaporean-author-claims-plagiarism|access-date=2021-10-12|issn=0585-3923}}{{cite web |last1=Hansen |first1=James |title=London Chef Elizabeth Haigh's Cookbook Withdrawn After Plagiarism Allegations |url=https://london.eater.com/22720370/makan-cookbook-plagiarism-elizabeth-haigh-sharon-wee-nonya-kitchen |website=London Eater |date=12 October 2021 |access-date=29 November 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Krishna |first1=Priya |title=Who Owns a Recipe? A Plagiarism Claim Has Cookbook Authors Asking. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/dining/recipe-theft-cookbook-plagiarism.html |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=New York Times |date=29 November 2021}} in October 2021 after Haigh was accused of plagiarizing recipes and anecdotes from Singaporean author Sharon Wee's 2012 Nonya cuisine recipe book Growing up in a Nonya Kitchen. Wee stated that she had not been contacted for permission before portions of her book appeared in Makan.{{cite news |last1=Flood |first1=Alison |title=Former MasterChef contestant's book pulled amid plagiarism accusations |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/11/former-masterchef-contestants-book-pulled-amid-plagiarism-accusations |access-date=11 October 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=11 October 2021}}{{Cite web|date=2021-10-11|title=Michelin star chef faces criticism over plagiarism claims|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/elizabeth-haigh-makan-plagiarism-bloomsbury-b1936002.html|access-date=2021-10-11|website=The Independent|language=en}} The author was also alleged to have plagiarized from other sources including the food blog Rasa Malaysia and a Singaporean cookbook published in 1981.{{Cite web|last=Dorall|first=Anne|title=UK Michellin-Star Chef Accused Of Stealing Singaporean Recipe On Rasa Malaysia Food Blog|url=https://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2021/10/12/uk-michellin-star-chef-accused-of-stealing-singaporean-recipe-on-rasa-malaysia-food-blog/|access-date=2021-10-13|website=The Rayat Post|date=12 October 2021 |language=en-US}} Singaporean company Anthony The Spice Maker also found directions on how to use two of the spice blends listed in Mei Mei's online catalog being 80% similar to their own while conducting a market research. Recipes are generally not protected by US or UK copyright laws as lists 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."{{Cite news|last=Heil|first=Emily|date=11 October 2021|title=Publisher pulls Singaporean cookbook 'Makan' amid plagiarism allegations|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/10/11/makan-cookbook-singapore-plagiarism/}}