Most cooking demonstrations start with an ingredient show-and-tell. Massimo Bottura, in Singapore on Saturday by invitation of American Express, starts his by showing Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, a triptych depicting contemporary artist Ai Wei Wei shattering a 2,000 year-old artefact.

“You have to break tradition to rebuild it for the future,” says the 55 year-old chef behind Michelin three-star Osteria Francescana that topped the World’s 50 Best list in 2016, and again this year. Like Ai, Bottura has courted his fair share of controversy. Though considered as one of the best chefs in the world these days, the El Bulli alumni was once harshly criticised for trying to modernise Italian cuisine. “The people wanted me crucified at the piazza like a witch, because I was messing with grandmother’s recipe. That, alongside the Pope and the soccer team are things you don’t (fool around) with in Italy.”