Old Seng Choong chef Daniel Tay has introduced local cookie flavours for its new flagship store at Clarke Quay Central.

Old Seng Choong was named after Tay’s father’s shop which closed in 1996. It was known for its old-school butter cakes, buttercream cakes, Black Forest cake, apple pies and baked goods.

“I was trained in French pastry and have been creating European cakes and pastry for many years, but after turning 40, I think it is time to go back to my roots and celebrate local Singaporean flavours,” says Tay.

“I want to bring back heritage recipes and nostalgic local flavours, in part to honour my dad, and in part to preserve the food memories of the older generation.”

“In fact, we need to talk about our local food more so our children will learn to appreciate and love local flavours, and so our food culture will not be lost,” says Tay, who is also the founder of food company Foodgnostic and cheesecake shop Cat And The Fiddle.

In 2016, he launched the Old Seng Choong old-school bakery brand online, offering its initial collection of Gu You Gek (Hokkien for butter cake) and local treats such as savoury yam cake and radish cake. Now Tay aims to develop products that are Singaporean at heart but have universal appeal.

He says that after much R&D it has been decided to go with cookies as they travel well.

“Cookies work well especially for tourists. Previously, if you came to Singapore for a holiday and tasted satay, for example, you could only describe the taste to your family and friends back home. But now, you can take back our satay cookies for them to experience a taste of Singapore.”

Old Seng Choong director Verone Tan says it took the team months to perfect each cookie flavour. Current favourites include cereal prawn cookies, smokey bak kwa cookies, laksa cookies and the satay cookies, with others to be introduced over time.

Tay aims to open 10 more shops in Singapore, and also market the Old Seng Choong brand overseas.