Chef Owner Shermay Lee

About Chef Owner Shermay Lee

Shermay Lee is an investment-banker-turned award winning cookbook author, having won 2 awards at an international competition. She is also the Managing Director and culinary instructor at her own cooking school, Shermay's Cooking School.

Shermay's inaugural cookbook The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol. 1: Nonya Cuisine was launched in Oct 2003 and garnered 2 accolades at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2003. The cookbook was first awarded the 'Best Cookbook Award - Special Awards Category (English)' then proceeded to the finals and won a 'Special Award of the Jury in the Respect of Tradition'.

Her second cookbook, The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol. 2: Straits Heritage Cuisine, was launched in Oct 2004. Both cookbooks were on the Borders and Kinokuniya Top 10 Best-Selling list.

Shermay's cookbooks received strong reviews in The Straits Times, The Sunday Times, Business Times, EasyStreats, Wine & Dine, Cuisine & Wine, Elle, Prestige and Tatler in Singapore, as well as in newspapers and magazines in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. Her recipes have also been featured in Home & Decor and Singapore Women's Weekly; and she was featured as the Singapore Master Chef in Oriental Cuisine magazine.

In 2004, Shermay was part of the team sent as Singapore's culinary ambassadors to the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California to participate in the 'Worlds of Flavour International Conference' where she gave talks and demonstrations on Singaporean cuisine. In 2009 & 2010, she was a Guest Judge on the final round of 'The Perfect Meal' competition, which aired on Channel News Asia and was sponsored by Miele. In the past few years, she has been a judge for the 'World Gourmet Summit (WGS) Awards of Excellence' which recognises the top talent in Singapore and the region.

A 6th generation Peranakan with a strong culinary tradition, Shermay started cooking at the age of 5. She learnt the rudiments of cooking first from her grandmother, Mrs Lee Chin Koon, who was considered the doyen of Peranakan cuisine and was the author of the famous cookbook, Mrs Lee's Cookbook, a kitchen stalwart published three decades ago. She later attended the renowned classical French culinary institute, Le Cordon Bleu. Prior to that, she graduated from Brown University, USA, with a degree in Political Science and History.