Ana Regalado went from a home cook to a viral sensation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Regalado gets tons of emails, and even strangers stop her in the street.
The Maricopa resident began using TikTok to share cooking tutorials. Her amazing videos include instructions on how to make homemade flour tortillas, tamales, enchiladas, and even Asian and Italian dishes.
© CourtesyRegalado has been living in the United States for so long that she has learned how to make the most delicious meals from various cultures.
Regalado’s easy-to-follow recipes garnered millions of views, to the point where she became one of 15 creators on the Latinx TikTok Trailblazers list.
“My kids introduced me to TikTok and showed me videos of cute cats, and I was watching them and thinking, Hey, I want to do that.”
“When I started doing my own videos on TikTok, it was food ones. Recipes like that. That’s how I started Salty Cocina, to focus on the food,” she said, as reported by Phoenix New Times.
“I was either going to school, or I had two jobs, or I was taking care of my family,” said Regalado, who moved from Mexico when she was 7. “But the pandemic sort of changed all that.”
Regalado was terrified during the pandemic but found cooking as her safe space. Today kids from all over the world get to learn from one of the best home cooks on social media.
