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Jenny Lau

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Jenny Lau
Born
Jenny Win Ching Lau

March 1985
Bexley, Greater London, England
Alma mater
Websitewww.celestialpeach.com

Jenny Win Ching Lau (born March 1985) is a British food writer and community organiser. Her debut essay collection An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) was published in 2025.

Early life

[edit]

Lau was born on the outskirts of South East London[1][2][3] to a Hong Kong father and a Malaysian-Chinese mother.[4] She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong before returning to London with her mother in 1996 at age 11.[5] Lau recalls becoming estranged from the Cantonese food of her youth until re-discovering it as an adult.[6]

Lau attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich.[7] She was a pianist and violinist from a young age. She graduated with a degree in Music from Girton College, Cambridge.[8]

Career

[edit]

Lau began her career performing in London's indie music scene, performing with Emmy the Great before going into PR and marketing, starting in social media before moving towards fashion communications. In 2014, she worked for Acne Studios in Stockholm.[7]

In 2018, Lau founded the online platform Celestial Peach, which she primarily used a food blog and to connect with others before branching out towards essays, art and fundraising.[9] She started hosting a potluck and supper club at the Hackney Chinese Community Services Association (now the ESEA Community Centre) in 2019,[10] where she would work as a communications consultant. Cultural events and projects she developed included the interview series #ChineseFoodiesOfIG,[11] the charity Asian Dessert Exchange during the COVID-19 pandemic,[12] and CongeeCon. Lau collaborated with photographer Kenneth Lam on a 2020 photography series titled #HumansOfChinatownLondon.[13][14] In 2020, Lau appeared on the BBC Good Food list of "game-changers" in the food scene.[15]

Based on her interview series called #ChineseFoodiesOfIG, Lau organised a digital exhibition in January 2022 titled What Does Home Taste Like?, which sought illustrations from over 40 artists.[16] In 2023, Lau started writing a column for the South China Morning Post.[17] She also contributed an essay to Jonathan Nunn's London Feeds Itself.[18] Lau was finalist for a BIH Hospitality Award[19] and nominated for CODE Hospitality's 2024 Woman of the Year in the Leader category.[20]

Renegade Books (a Dialogue Books imprint, part of Hachette UK) won a three-auction[21] to publish Lau's debut non-fiction book An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) in January 2025. Neither a recipe cookbook nor a glossary, the book contains a collection of 26 essays Lau started writing in 2021 on Chinese food, identity, culture, history and misconceptions, particularly as these topics pertain to the diaspora.[22] Violet Conroy of AnOther Magazine called it "wholly unique for its brazen originality, humour and range". [23] An A-Z of Chinese Food was a Service95 Book Club pick.[24]

Personal life

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Lau has lived in Whitechapel, Haggerston and New Cross.[6]

Bibliography

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Books

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  • An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) (2025)

Essays

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  • "The Community Centre" in London Feeds Itself (2023), edited by Jonathan Nunn

References

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  1. ^ Various (23 February 2025). "30 things we love in the world of food, 2025". The Observer. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  2. ^ "For the record". The Observer. 1 March 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  3. ^ "The Ten, Jenny Lau". Sourced Journeys. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  4. ^ Connor; Akinna (31 March 2021). "Served with Our Connection to Food w/ Jenny Lau (Celestial Peach)". Rice is Rice. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  5. ^ Wilson, Bee (12 January 2025). "An A-Z of Chinese Food by Jenny Lau review — it's more than soy sauce". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  6. ^ a b Dearlove, Lucy (10 April 2025). "Gastro-Spirituality with Jenny Lau". Lecker. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b "An Interview with Communications Consultant and Celestial Peach Founder Jenny Lau, Class of 2003". To Read & So. October 2022. p. 4. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  8. ^ "Fiction and non-fiction from Girtonian authors". Girton College, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  9. ^ Adrienne Katz Kennedy. "Life, death and red eggs: Chewing on Chinese food and identity with Celestial Peach". Topia. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022.
  10. ^ Anna Sulan Masing (23 April 2021). "Jenny Lau, Community Organiser and Founder, Celestial Peach". Resy. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  11. ^ Lin-Sommer, Sam (5 August 2022). "How the Chinese Diaspora Feeds Itself, in 100 Dazzling Illustrations". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  12. ^ Hansen, James (11 May 2022). "London's Asian Dessert Collective Bakes Up a Storm for Sri Lankan Charity". Eater. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  13. ^ Morgan, Lucy (16 February 2020). "Chinatown people: from immigrant chefs to local firefighters, folk of London's Chinatown have stories told in Instagram gallery". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  14. ^ Wong, Harley (25 June 2020). "Amid COVID-19, These Artists Are Making Sure Local Businesses Aren't Forgotten". Artsy. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  15. ^ Thompson, Melissa (4 September 2020). "10 game-changers: food greats everyone should know about". BBC Good Food. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  16. ^ Gorney, Liz (25 January 2022). "40 artists including Yuk Fun and Katy Wang illustrate what home tastes like for #ChineseFoodiesofIG exhibition". It's Nice That. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Jenny Lau: Latest Articles, Analysis and Profile". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  18. ^ "London Feeds Itself". London Review Bookshop. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  19. ^ "The Finalists". Be Inclusive Hospitality. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  20. ^ "Hospitality's Woman of the Year". CODE Hospitality. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  21. ^ Spanoudi, Melina (1 February 2024). "Renegade Books wins three-way auction for Jenny Lau's An A–Z of Chinese Food". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  22. ^ "Book review: 'An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included)'". The Hong Konger. 4 February 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  23. ^ Conroy, Violet (23 January 2025). "This Nuanced (And Funny) Book Dissects Chinese Food, Culture and Identity". AnOther Magazine. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  24. ^ "The Must-Read Books To Have On Your Radar In 2025". Service95. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
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