Singer goes viral with hilarious TikTok cooking videos
Michael Mondezie
A healthy pouring of rum.
That’s the secret ingredient always on hand in singer/songwriter Rochelle Chedz’s kitchen. White flavoured coconut and pineapple rum makes its way, in no specific measurement, into every dish and cocktail she creates on her hilarious TikTok-famous amateur cooking video series.
Chedz says her signature move of pouring rum into every dish was born out of sheer necessity.
“We use a lot of coconut milk and coconut flavour in our local dishes, and I genuinely didn’t have coconut milk one day, so I figured some rum would have been sufficient. And, yes, I am open to endorsements,” the affable entertainer chuckled during a WhatsApp exchange with the Express yesterday.
Chedz’s videos are a riot. The Imij & Co performer’s poor knife technique and obvious lack of any real culinary training whatsoever has endeared her to a 50k-plus social media following.
The Port of Spain-born singer clumsily stumbles through first-time attempts of curried chicken, stewed chicken, callaloo, brownies, doubles, pholourie, pomerac chow and barbecued meats. Her pat-on-the-back catch phrase of “Oh Ma Gosh!” after tasting her food has been copied and shared as many times as her laugh-out-loud videos across social media.
“I actually wanted to be a chef when I was much younger, then I realised I enjoyed eating the food more than cooking it,” she continued with another laugh.
The magic ingredient
The downtime of the pandemic-forced lockdowns, she said, sparked a renewed interest in cooking since she “had no choice but to cook”.
“I figured it’ll be fun to film myself cooking. That’s how it all started. I randomly said ‘Oh Ma Gash!’ in my first-ever cooking TikTok and just stuck with it. I’ve successfully attempted to make various local dishes for the first time, but I think my loved ones would still rather do the cooking. I’m more of the designated bartender,” she snickered.
While rum is heavily, very heavily, featured in all her step-by-step tutorials, Chedz says the real magic ingredient to creating great-tasting food is the love and passion you put into process.
“I get a real sense of joy from doing these fun cooking tutorials. I just want to entertain and hopefully make everyone’s day a bit brighter after watching my videos. Am I open to having my own cooking show? Absolutely, I would love to have my own show,” she beamed.
The entertainer cum amateur chef says, however, she is genuinely overwhelmed by the positive reception she has received on social media, and is awed that her “messy kitchen exploits” are inspiring more and more people “to try and turn a pot”. “I’m so grateful for all the positive support from people that have been following the videos. I honestly didn’t expect so much interest when I started doing the videos, but to see the series take on a life of its own is inspiring,” she added.
Back in studio recording new material, Chedz says she is hoping to give her music and cooking fans even more reasons to dance in and out of the kitchen. A versatile performer, Chedz is known for her singing and rapping talents. She also has performed freestyle verses in several Imij & Co sets.
“I am currently in studio finalising my first single release for 2022. I’m super excited, this song is gonna be a fun one and I honestly can’t wait to share it with everyone,” Chedz concluded.
More hilarious cooking videos, please, while we wait!
