This is a story of the unlikely origins of Asia’s Best Pastry Chef. Imagine: a low angle shot of a fourteen-year-old girl, in ambient lighting, glued to her television set.
The background music comes on: K-Pop. The credits roll. “My Name is Kim Sam Soon” is a Kdrama featuring the life of a talented but socially awkward pastry chef; it’s in some ways a Korean version of Bridget Jones’s Diary.
“I started in pastry because there was the Korean drama. At that age, I was so dramatic about everything. I would get so philosophical. In the intro to the show there was a quote that related to pastry and life. It stuck with me”.
There are two types of dough in the world. One rises because there is a leavening agent. The other rises by itself. The one that rises by itself takes a longer time. But even if takes a longer time, at least I can say I did it on my own.
“I was like… Woah, so deep. I thought that through pastry, I would find meaning in life.” It was the deciding moment in the career of one of the world’s best pastry chefs.
Chef Maira Yeo’s back story began in Singapore. Born into a middle-class family who owned a hawker stall at the Ang Mo Kio Hawker Centre, her busy parents did not have much time to raise her. She was entrusted by her parents to the care of her Nan.
At the age of five, she remembers standing on beer crates and cracking eggs into a frying pan at her parent’s hawker stall. She continued to help her parents after school and during school holidays until the age of sixteen. The pocket money offered a good incentive.
The family dynamic was high on adrenaline, and she loved it. Her Mum was fast and quick to think on her feet. Her father was more tempered in nature. He taught her some advanced techniques, including how to clean a pig’s liver; one of Maira’s strongest memories.
“My parents gave me and my brother a good life. We were never worried about money. They worked so hard, setting an example for me.
Maira mediated when tempers ran high between her parents. It was a good training ground in preparation for life in fine dining kitchens.