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We love our food but do we really know where our favourite dishes come from? Or how our forefathers \u2013 or foremothers, most likely \u2013 sourced and prepared them? Emily Yeo and Yeo Min want Singaporeans to learn these facts and more from their\u00a0<\/span>Museum of Food<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n The two friends got to know each other as they shared a publisher. Emily Yeo is the author of The Little Book Of Singapore Food Illustrated cookbook, while Yeo Min wrote Chinese Pastry School, which features key techniques and recipes.<\/span><\/p>\n Both women, who were hosting cooking workshops separately, got together to collaborate on heritage recipes. The response was so encouraging that they set up Museum of Food as a non-profit in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n But they didn\u2019t just want to teach others how to cook. They wanted to plug the gap in Singaporeans\u2019 culinary heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe realised that Singaporeans can make tiramisus, brownies and pizzas but when we toss them an\u00a0ang ku kueh recipe, for example, they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re supposed to do with it,\u201d Emily Yeo said.<\/span><\/p>\n Added Yeo Min: \u201cIt\u2019s very common for Singaporeans to know their chutoro (medium-fat tuna belly) and otoro (fatty tuna belly) but then they go to a wet market and don\u2019t know what\u00a0ikan parang (wolf herring) looks like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Museum of Food isn\u2019t a typical museum that holds exhibitions and curates specific collections. It operates as a tool to educate people about <\/span>Singapore\u2019s culinary heritage<\/span>, sharing recipes while explaining how they were made in the past, including the tools used.<\/span><\/p>\n Their first pop-up was a series of heritage food workshops at Baker X at Orchard Central in late 2024. Held over two months, this was the first rendition of the museum, with their artefact collection on display, while they served up heritage-inspired bakes and held workshops with different partners.<\/span><\/p>\n They then continued running workshops at partner locations, with schools, corporations and community groups, all while acquiring more artefacts.<\/span><\/p>\n At the end of 2025, the friends decided it was time to find a home for their museum \u201cto increase our reach and do more meaningful work\u201d, said Yeo Min.<\/span><\/p>\n Emily Yeo shared that they\u2019ve rented a second-floor space at 102 Joo Chiat Road and will open in mid-April. The venue will operate on a by-appointment basis, and house the museum\u2019s collection and offer space for workshops.<\/span><\/p>\n There are currently around 100 items in their collection, including kueh moulds,\u00a0a murukku or putu mayam press, an ice-shaving machine, a roti jala cup, and a cendol sieve, through which thick rice dough is pushed to form the stringy strands we see in the dessert. Their oldest cookbook, Singapore Municipality Gas Department Cookery Book, is from 1938.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nARTEFACTS THAT CONNECT TO THE PAST<\/span><\/h2>\n