Makan by Elizabeth Haigh withdrawn from publication after controversy

October 10, 2021 by
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In May’s New Cookbook Review, I wrote the following: “Makan: Recipes from the Heart of Singapore by Elizabeth Haigh: The author 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. She has since launched Kaizen House a creative space where chefs and eaters can gather through residencies and other events as well as her own restaurant Mei Mei in Borough Market. In Makan, her debut cookbook, she draws together recipes that have been handed down through many generations of her family, from Nonya to Nonya, creating a time-capsule of a cuisine. Growing up, it was through food that Elizabeth’s mum demonstrated her affection, and the passion and love poured into each recipe is all collated here; a love letter to family cooking and traditions. I want to make every dish in this book – all I need is more hands and time.” I fell in love with this book.

Instagram – Sharon Wee

Today, I have learned that major parts of this book were lifted from Sharon Wee’s Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen: Singapore Recipes from My Mother published in 2012. See Sharon’s statement above. Haigh has no mention of any of this on her social media save a post today to be kind and mindful for #worldmentalhealthday.

New Zealand’s Cook the Books shared the following on Facebook:

A British “celebrity chef” has stolen substantial material from an earlier book by a lesser-known author. 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. On being presented with the evidence, Bloomsbury was persuaded to withdraw the book from distribution. Sharon Wee put out a brief statement on social media today but I think this deserves wider coverage. It is outrageous. As we all know, “recipes can’t be copyrighted,” but Haigh didn’t limit herself to lifting recipes. She also appropriated Wee’s personal memories, sometimes verbatim. (Both books are presented as collections of family recipes from Singapore.)

To do my due diligence, I bought an ebook version of Wee’s book and am comparing the titles side by side. Yes, Bloomsbury has removed Makan from their site yet there is no formal statement by the publisher or author as mentioned above. Hopefully that will come. I wanted to compare both titles for myself before reporting on this. There are very similar passages with regard to obtaining their mother’s recipes, difficulty in recreating them (finding ingredients etc) and more. There are roughly fifteen recipes that are basically the same.

Growing Up is a more in-depth memoir and a truly lovely book. Haigh’s personal writing is sparse, duplicative of certain of Wee’s passages and details more about her life as a chef and mother.

From my two hour comparison, I trust that the correct action was taken by the publisher but would love to hear what Elizabeth Haigh has to say.

Category: Book News

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10 Comments

  • Indio32  on  October 10, 2021

    I don’t have nor have I seen the Sharon Wee book but I’d definitely like to hear what Elizabeth Haigh has to say before coming to a conclusion on this. Getting recipes from an older generation isn’t always easy/straight forward. In my case growing up in the UK with a French father made finding French ingredients/quality hard. The local butcher always eyed my father (a classically trained chef) with suspicion. Again alot of staple recipes are going to be similar by definition.
    I’m not taking sides but let’s at least hear both sides!

  • SerenaYLee  on  October 10, 2021

    Wow, who would have thunk it? Reading some of the comments on Facebook, it seems at least one other person, a blogger, had her work plagiarized by Haigh also. I can’t imagine the thought process of someone who would do something like this.

  • mmchef21  on  October 10, 2021

    It is not just the recipes that were copied, but right down to the stories and memoirs. You can find many of the said comparisons on social media.

    Page 8&9 from Haigh’s book for example is from
    https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20161024-the-cuisine-only-women-can-master

    Page 56 from https://rasamalaysia.com/ngoh-hiang-recipe/

    • Jenny  on  October 10, 2021

      mmchef21 – that is what I reported – – Bee’s claim I saw later this afternoon. I reported on the information that was available and I could confirm this morning.

  • TrishaCP  on  October 10, 2021

    I understand wanting both sides but if the publisher of the new book withdrew the book of it’s own accord, I’m guessing that’s a really bad sign. How utterly depressing. I agree the publisher needs to put out a statement ASAP.

    • Jenny  on  October 10, 2021

      TrishaCP – I had to report on what I could discern from Sharon Wee’s post. There has been no publisher statement or remarks from Haigh – I had to go on what I had available to me.

  • TrishaCP  on  October 10, 2021

    I meant to add that Elizabeth Haigh should of course issue a statement too. Ugh.

  • Rinshin  on  October 11, 2021

    Shows immaturity, a fraud and short sighted easily discovered deception for monetary gain and personal recognition.

  • Foodycat  on  October 12, 2021

    There’s a very interesting piece on London Eater about it – both the limited statements that Wee, Haigh and Bloomsbury have given but also some very insightful comments on the industry. https://london.eater.com/22720370/makan-cookbook-plagiarism-elizabeth-haigh-sharon-wee-nonya-kitchen

  • zarya2011  on  October 18, 2021

    Haigh was also featured on YouTube under Uncle Roger’s channel. She was everyone to buy her book and to donate to her Kickstarter to help move Mei Mei. Based on the timing of these accusations, she either filmed after she was made aware and didn’t say anything or it was already filmed but no yet released and still didn’t say anything. Now the content creator for that channel is under a lot of scrutiny. I’m not sure if he can legally say anything, but it hurts his credibility as a cooking channel.

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