Family paid chef for monthly batch cooking
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In London, a family with two young children hired Evelyn, a pastry chef, to batch-cook meals for them once a month.
The parents, both working in finance, struggled to balance their careers with family life and disliked the processed nature of ready meals. They found Evelyn through a Facebook group for Malaysian mothers in the UK and paid her $150 per visit to prepare nine portions of Chinese-Malaysian dishes like ayam tempra and babi pongteh.
The arrangement freed up the parents’ weekends, allowing them to spend more time with their children instead of cooking. The mother also learned about her Chinese-Malaysian culture and cooking techniques from Evelyn, expanding her own culinary skills beyond basic recipes. Evelyn’s visits lasted about four to six hours, and the family provided the ingredients, often sourcing them from online grocery stores and Chinatown.
After four years, the family moved from London and discontinued the arrangement as their children grew older and their jobs became more flexible. The mother reflected that Evelyn provided not just a cooking service, but also a sense of community and cultural connection, filling a gap left by the distance from their families.
