Influencer’s imaginery friend helps her to cooking success
A PITTSBURGH based influencer who thought her love affair with food was over after an accident has found new success online.
And the no-nonsense approach of home cook Desarae Legros has not only helped her rack up thousands of followers – but has also led to the publication of her first cookery.
Desarae – who is known online under the title cooking comedy chaos – also admits to help from “Linda” her chaotic alter ego, who gets the blame for anything that goes wrong.
And it is all of this, plus her friendly and funny approach as well as her internationally inspired recipes, that have helped Desarae become a success.
Her book, What’s Up Buttercup! Magical Recipes that Inspire you, draws on cuisines from across the world, including from Desarae’s own heritage.
“I grew up cooking Lebanese food with my dad who was a really fantastic cook,” she said.
“That’s what gave me my love of cooking. It’s also important to me to keep those dishes from my culture alive.”
It’s not just Lebanese cuisine that the cook draws from however, with recipes featuring everything from Polish Pierogi to pizzas to Asian and Indian dishes.
“When we were kids, we could never afford to order takeout, so if we wanted to try food from other countries, we had to make it ourselves,” she said.
Desarae was managing a restaurant franchise until she broke her ankle in an accident three years ago.
“It just never healed,” she said.
“I had lots of surgeries but in the end the doctors said there was nothing more they could do.”
Unable to work, Desarae started cooking and posting videos, finding that her bubbly personality, good humor and great dishes won her a fast-growing following.
It was a natural progression to think about sharing all of her content in a cookery book – which she was able to turn into a reality thanks to a company called Found.
Found helps recipe creators turn their social media content into cash, by creating cookery books which come at no cost to them – with their only commitment to promote the book via their channels.
They then a percentage cent of every copy sold – a great incentive to showcase the book to their eager audiences.
“When the copy of the book turned up I just ugly cried for ages,” she admitted.
“It was just so overwhelming to see my recipes in a book – and it’s amazing to see people are buying it.
“I am so grateful to Found for giving me this opportunity.”