Former MasterChef contestant and Michelin star chef Elizabeth Haigh has had her debut cookbook withdrawn from circulation by publisher Bloomsbury in the wake of accusations of plagiarism by a different chef. Sharon Wee, the author of Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen, a cookbook memoir published in 2012, has accused Ms Haigh of plagiarising recipes and private anecdotes in her cookbook Makan: Recipes from the Heart of Singapore. The allegations of plagiarism came as a shock to market insiders and fans of Ms Haigh, the owner of London-based restaurant Mei Mei and a respected name in the market.
According to BBC, Bloomsbury Absolute mentioned that the book, released in May, this year, has been withdrawn “due to rights issues”. Sharon Wee, who is a chef based in New York, alleged that Makan includes at least 15 copied recipes and private stories from her personal book.
Following the withdrawal, Ms Wee shared a statement on “I was distressed to discover that certain recipes and other content from my book had been copied or paraphrased without my consent in Makan by Elizabeth Haigh, and I immediately brought this matter to the attention of the book’s publisher, Bloomsbury Absolute.” Sharing the tweet, Ms Wee added, “I wrote my book in loving memory of my mother. I credit her and her peers for their anecdotes, recipes and cooking suggestions. This was their story…”
I wrote my book in loving memory of my mother. I credit her and her peers for their anecdotes, recipes and cooking tips. This was their story. Here is my statement. pic.twitter.com/yyQAndqmeJ
— Sharon Wee (@nonyaglobal) October 6, 2021
The issue first came to light when the New Zealand cookbook store Cook the Books received an email from a staff member at Marshall Cavendish, which published Sharon Wee’s book.
As per London Eater, the email alleged, “The most blatant case of cookbook plagiarism we’ve ever seen … Elizabeth Haigh, in her 2021 book ‘Makan’ published by Bloomsbury Absolute, lifted 15 or more recipes from Sharon Wee’s book, ‘Growing up in a Nonya Kitchen,’ published by Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) in 2012.”
The email even compared excerpts from the two books to point out the similarities. The two authors had a passage on how their mothers organised the kitchen.
Ms Wee wrote in her 2012 book: “My mother, like many of her friends, placed their most frequently used condiments and ingredients within easy access while they cooked. That often meant a plastic tray . . . where there were small bottles of soy sauces, sesame oil, and jars of minced garlic, salt and sugar. In the past, there would also have been a metal container to hold recycled cooking oil.”
Ms Haigh wrote in her 2021 book: “My mother . . . kept her most frequently used condiments and ingredients within easy reach of where she cooked. That often meant a plastic tray full of little jars of oils, crispy-fried shallots or garlic, crushed garlic, salt and sugar. There was also usually an old metal pot for recycled or discarded frying oil.”
Ms Haigh was a contestant on the MasterChef show in 2011. After having won a Michelin star at the London restaurant Pidgin, she opened Mei Mei restaurant in 2019 in London’s Borough Market.