Little Guide Book: Asian Leaves & Roots

Celebrity chef, cookbook author, food columnist, cooking instructor and entrepreneur, Devagi Sanmugam is one of Singapore's most dynamic and talented food personalities. Starting as a cooking instructor more than 20 years ago, Devagi has since built an impressive portfolio including writing more than a dozen cookbooks. She continues to innovate, being constantly involved in developing and testing original recipes for food companies, restaurants and magazines.

Widely known as the Spice Queen of Singapore, Devagi has also hosted a number of television cooking shows for local and foreign media. Christopher Tan is a writer, food consultant and author. A contributor of articles, photographs and recipes to international periodicals such as Saveur, Food & Travel, The Peak and Appetite magazines, he is also a food columnist for Singapore's Sunday Times. Chris regularly conducts talks, demonstrations and cooking classes on cuisine and culture at venues which have included Singapore's National History Museum and Peranakan Museum, the Sydney International Food Festival, the Musee Quai Branly in Paris, and the Culinary Institute of America. He has authored, co-authored, styled photos for and edited many cookbooks.

Christopher Tan, 47 (www.foodfella.com) is an award-winning writer, cooking instructor and photographer. He has been commentator on and chronicler of food, culture and heritage for publications such as Singapore's Sunday Times and Straits Times, The Peak, and America’s Saveur magazine. He believes that what we eat is but the littlest part of any food encounter: it is in the how, why, when, where and with whom we eat that much of its flavour lies.

Christopher has given talks and demonstrations at Singapore’s National Museum, Peranakan Museum and National Library, the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Paris’ Le Musée Quai Branly, the Sydney International Food Festival, the Singapore Writers Festival, and the annual Kueh Appreciation Day organised by Slow Food Singapore, the local chapter of the international grassroots association devoted to preserving heritage food and culture.

He has authored and co-authored numerous cookbooks. His most recent cookbooks include The Way of Kueh, a collection of recipes that pays homage to numerous kueh traditions; NerdBaker, a memoir-cum-baking book; Cheat Sheet, a compilation of his Sunday Times columns; and Peacetime Kitchen, a collection of re-envisioned recipes from the WW2 era.